Washington March 3:
US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined the international community in expressing their outrage at the assassination of Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.
"I am deeply saddened by the assassination of Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti in Islamabad and condemn in the strongest possible terms this horrific act of violence," Obama said in a statement. Pakistan's only Christian cabinet minister Bhatti, a vocal critic of blasphemy law, was shot dead yesterday by Taliban militants in Islamabad, just two months after Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was gunned down for opposing the harsh act.
Demanding guilty be brought to justice, Obama said Bhatti was "clear-eyed" about the risks of speaking out, and despite innumerable death threats, he insisted on his duty to defend equal rights and tolerance from those who preach "division, hate, and violence.
US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined the international community in expressing their outrage at the assassination of Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti.
"I am deeply saddened by the assassination of Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti in Islamabad and condemn in the strongest possible terms this horrific act of violence," Obama said in a statement. Pakistan's only Christian cabinet minister Bhatti, a vocal critic of blasphemy law, was shot dead yesterday by Taliban militants in Islamabad, just two months after Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was gunned down for opposing the harsh act.
Demanding guilty be brought to justice, Obama said Bhatti was "clear-eyed" about the risks of speaking out, and despite innumerable death threats, he insisted on his duty to defend equal rights and tolerance from those who preach "division, hate, and violence.
