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Pakistan Arrests Cleric Over Involvement in Murder of Model

by Associated Press

   MULTAN, PAKISTAN --

   Pakistani police say they have arrested a Muslim cleric for alleged
   involvement in the 2016 murder of social media model Qandeel Baloch.
   She was found strangled in her home in the city of Multan after posting
   racy pictures on Facebook of herself with the cleric, Mufti Abdul Qawi.
   Baloch's brother, Mohammed Wasim Azeem, has confessed to her murder.
   His trial is underway in a Multan court. Nearly 1,000 Pakistani women
   are killed by close relatives each year in so-called "honor killings,"
   for violating conservative norms on love and marriage.
   A senior police officer, Mohammad Fahad, says the cleric was arrested
   as he tried to flee Multan. Some of his phone calls were traced to
   another brother of Baloch around the time of her killing.