Muslim scholars heap praise on Pakistan governor's killer

THE self-confessed killer of a prominent Pakistani governor was showered with rose petals as he arrived at court yesterday, and an influential Muslim scholars group praised the assassination of the outspoken opponent of the country's strict blasphemy laws.

• A Pakistani greets Mumtaz Qadri, third from right, the alleged killer of Punjab's governor Salman Taseer, as he arrives at a court in Islamabad yesterday. Picture: AP

Mumtaz Qadri, 26, made his first appearance in an Islamabad court, where a judge remanded him in custody a day after he allegedly sprayed automatic gunfire at the back of Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer while he was supposed to be protecting him as a bodyguard.

A rowdy crowd slapped Qadri on the back and kissed his cheek as he was escorted inside.

As he left the court, a crowd of about 200 sympathisers chanted slogans in his favour. The suspect stood at the back door of an armoured police van with a flower necklace given to him by an admirer and repeatedly yelled "God is great".

More than 500 clerics and scholars from the group Jamat Ahle Sunnat said no-one should pray or express regret for the killing of the governor.

The group representing Pakistan's majority Barelvi sect, which follows a form of Islam considered moderate and is opposed to the Taleban, also issued a veiled threat to other opponents of the blasphemy laws.

"The supporter is as equally guilty as one who committed blasphemy," the group warned, adding politicians, the media and others should learn "a lesson from the exemplary death".

Jamat leader Maulana Shah Turabul Haq Qadri paid "glorious tribute to the murderer for his courage, bravery and religious honour and integrity".

Qadri told interrogators he shot the liberal Taseer multiple times because of the politician's vocal opposition to the harsh blasphemy laws.

Qadri is accused of pumping more than 20 rounds from his rifle into Taseer's back in Islamabad on Tuesday. The commando, assigned to protect his victim, has yet to be charged with a crime.

Questions have arisen about whether others were involved and why Qadri was assigned to Taseer's detail.

Faisal Raza Abdi, political adviser to Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari, said officials with the Punjab police told him months ago the department had deemed Qadri a security risk because he had extremist views, and said he should not be assigned to protect high-profile figures.

Mr Abdi said he was told that assessment was part of the investigation. He said the fact Qadri was allowed to guard Mr Taseer suggested others may have played a role in the killing. "I do not think this is an individual act. It is a well-planned murder," he said.

Mr Taseer, 66, was a senior member of the ruling party and close ally of president Asif Ali Zardari.He is the highest-profile politician to be assassinated since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto three years ago.

An outspoken moderate, his death was a reminder of the growing danger to those in Pakistan who dare to challenge Islamist extremists.

Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other senior ruling party officials joined up to 6,000 mourners who gathered to pay silent homage to him at the funeral at his official residence in Lahore yesterday.

Mr Taseer's killing added to the turmoil in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where the government is on the verge of collapse and Islamic militancy is on the rise.

The governor's residence has been the scene of angry street protests in recent weeks against Mr Taseer's call to repeal blasphemy laws that order death for anyone convicted of insulting Islam and his support for a Christian woman sentenced to die for allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad.