Pakistan Punjab Governor killed by own guard

Pakistan Punjab Governor killed by own guard.The governor of Pakistan’s powerful Punjab province was shot dead in the capital on Tuesday by one of his guards, who told interrogators afterward that he was angry about the politician’s stance against the country’s blasphemy law, officials said. The killing of Salman Taseer was the most high-profile assassination of a political figure in Pakistan since the slaying of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, and it rattled a country already dealing with a crisis of a potential collapse of the government. Mr. Taseer was a member of Ms. Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party and a close associate of President Asif Ali Zardari. The governor was vocal on a range of subjects, even using Twitter to get across his views.In recent days, as the People’s Party has faced the loss of its coalition partners, the 56-year-old Taseer has insisted that the government will survive. But it was his very public stance against the blasphemy law that apparently led to his killing.An intelligence official interrogating the suspect, identified as Mumtaz Qadri, told The Associated Press that the elite force security guard was boasting about the assassination, saying he was proud to have killed a blasphemer. “He was the most courageous voice after Benazir Bhutto on the rights of women and religious minorities,” said a crying Farahnaz Ispahani, an aide to Mr. Zardari and friend of Taseer. “God, we will miss him.” Police official Mohammad Iftikhar said Mr. Taseer was gunned down after he reached Khosar Market, a shopping centre in Islamabad popular with Westerners and wealthy Pakistanis. Five other people were wounded as other security personnel responded to the attack. Another police official, Hasan Iqbal, said a pair of witnesses told the police that as the Governor was leaving his vehicle, a man from his security squad fired two shots at him. Taseer then fell, while other police officials fired on the attacker.Hmmmm......Obama "Islam is a great religion".Read the full story here.More here.