Pakistan’s Parliament is expected to consider a resolution on Tuesday about whether the French envoy should be expelled over the publication of controversial cartoons depicting Islam’s Prophet, testing whether the government gives in to threats from radical Islamists.
Under the resolution, cases against Islamists over deadly anti-France protests would be withdrawn, the country's interior minister said.
The fate of the resolution was unclear, but Parliament's mere discussion of the matter would be a test of whether Prime Minister Imran Khan succumbs to pressure from the hardline - and outlawed - Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party.
A supporter of Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan, a banned Islamist party, throws a stone while another tries to extinguish a tear gas canister fired by police to disperse protests over the arrest of their party leader Saad Rizvi, in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, April 19, 2021. The outlawed Islamist political group freed 11 policemen almost a day after taking them hostage in the eastern city of Lahore amid violent clashes with security forces, the country's interior minister said Monday. (AP PhotoFareed Khan)
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Pakistan's interior minister, announced the proposal in a video message after overnight talks with representatives of the the party, which has been rallying since last week for the expulsion of the French ambassador.
The group's supporters are angered over the cartoons' publication in France. They also are protesting the April 12 arrest of their leader, Saad Rizvi, a cleric who emerged as the leader of the group in November after the sudden death of his father, Khadim Hussein Rizvi. His party wants French products boycotted and the French ambassador expelled under an agreement signed between the government and Rizvi’s party in February.
However, the government has said it only committed to discussing the matter in Parliament before Tuesday, April 20. That's when Ahmad said a resolution will be moved by Kahn's government in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, to discuss the expulsion of the French ambassador.
Khan's government holds a simple majority in the National Assembly.
Rizvi's supporters took to streets across the country last week when police arrested him for threatening the government with protests over the demand to expel the French envoy. The reaction from Rizvi’s supporters against his arrest was so swift that violence quickly spread across the country, killing four police officers and at least six demonstrators.
As authorities dispatched paramilitary troops to help police in a crackdown on Rizvi's supporters, Khan banned news coverage of Rizvi’s party by the local media.
The blackout of protests by Rizvi's supporters remained in place in Pakistan, where the country's powerful military uses various tactics to stifle press freedom. Pakistan sits at 145 in the world freedom index, according to a report released by the Reporters Without Borders, which says it is among those countries where the military and agencies control journalists.
The report said that the vast majority of media outlets reluctantly comply with the red lines imposed by the military. It added, however, that “Pakistani censorship apparatus is still struggling to control social media, the only space where a few critical voices can be heard.”
Pakistani security forces in a series of operations cleared almost all sit-ins, but Rizvi's supporters are still rallying in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province where they attacked a police station over the weekend. The supporters took 11 police officers hostage and freed them Monday after talks with the government.
Ahmed said his government's talks with Rizvi's group will continue and he will share more details later Tuesday.
The latest development comes a day after Khan, in a televised address defended his decision of not expelling the French envoy, saying it could affect Pakistan’s trade ties with the European Union.
The tensions originated with last year’s remarks by France’s president who defended as freedom of speech issue the publication of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad by a satirical newspaper, drawing condemnation from across the Muslim world.
Rizvi’s party supports the country’s controversial blasphemy laws and has a history of staging violent rallies to influence the government.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted a van carrying Japanese nationals in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, police said. The Japanese nationals escaped unharmed but officials later said one bystander was killed.
Initially, police said the van was heading to an industrial area where the five Japanese nationals worked when it came under attack, local police chief Arshad Awan said. Police escorting the Japanese returned fire, killing a second attacker, the bomber's accomplice, he said.
“All the Japanese who were the target of the attack are safe,” Awan added.
Police had initially said the five worked at Pakistan Suzuki Motors but later corrected that statement, saying it was another factory.
Images on local news channels showed a damaged van as police officers arrived at the scene. The three passersby who were wounded in the attack were taken to the hospital, where one later died. The two others were said to be in stable condition.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced the attack in separate statements, praised police for their quick response and vowed to eliminate terrorism. They also offered prayers for the casualties.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed the Japanese nationals were unhurt and said it “strongly condemns this heinous act of terrorism. All necessary measures will be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
“Pakistan remains committed to ensuring the safety of foreign nationals residing in the country," the ministry said.
The ministry said two Pakistani nationals were killed in Friday's attack, which contradicted the statements from police and hospital officials who said one of the three wounded died. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.
The van was given a police escort following reports of possible attacks targeting foreigners working in Pakistan on various Chinese-funded and other projects, said Tariq Mastoi, a senior police officer. He said a timely and quick response from the guards and police foiled the attack and both attackers were killed.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatists or the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks on security forces in recent years.
Insurgents have also targeted Chinese working in Pakistan on projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which includes a multitude of megaprojects such as road construction, power plants and agriculture.
In March, five Chinese and their Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide bomber in northwestern Pakistan rammed his explosive-laden car into a vehicle when they were heading to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, where they worked.
Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, is the capital of southern Sindh province.
Separately, an Afghan Taliban religious scholar, Mohammad Omar Jan Akhundzada, was killed on Thursday by gunmen inside a mosque in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, a local police officer Akram Ullah said.
No one claimed responsibility for that attack.
Chief Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Friday denounced the killing of Akhundzada, saying he taught at a jihadi seminary in Afghanistan's Kandahar province and was a member of the Taliban oversight committee of Islamic scholars.
Many Afghan leaders and scholars lived in Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan before the Afghan Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew. Most then went back and it was unclear why Akhundzada was still in Pakistan.
Associated Press writer Abdul Sattar contributed to this story from Quetta, Pakistan.
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Pakistani investigators examine the body of an attacker at the scene of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. Several Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Pakistani investigators take picture of the body of attacker at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese autoworkers, who narrowly escaped the attack Friday that wounded three bystanders in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, police said.(AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
A Pakistani police officer stands guard as investigators examine the scene of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese autoworkers, who narrowly escaped the attack Friday that wounded some bystanders in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, police said.(AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Pakistani investigators examine a damaged van at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese autoworkers, who narrowly escaped the attack Friday that wounded three bystanders in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Pakistani investigators examine the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near a van carrying Japanese autoworkers, who narrowly escaped the attack Friday that wounded three bystanders in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
CORRECTS DATE - Police officers stand guard at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
CORRECTS DATE - Pakistani investigators examine a damaged van at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
CORRECTS DATE - Police officers examine a van at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
CORRECTS DATE - Police officers stand guard at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
CORRECTS DATE - A police officer stands guard at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
CORRECTS DATE - Pakistani investigators examine a damaged van at the site of a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 19, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Police officers examine a van at the site of suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 20, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Police officers stand guard at the site of suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 20, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Police officers stand guard at the site of suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 20, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
A police officer stands guard at the site of suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, April 20, 2024. Five Japanese nationals traveling in a van narrowly escaped a suicide attack when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near their vehicle in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Friday, wounding three passers-by, police said. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
