Pope calls on Pakistan to repeal blasphemy law and protect Christians

Pope Benedict yesterday called on Pakistan to repeal its anti-blasphemy law and demanded that governments in predominantly Muslim countries do much more to protect minority Christians from violent attacks.

In his annual address to diplomats - which came just days after senior Pakistani politician Salman Taseer, who opposed the legislation, was assassinated by his own bodyguard - the Pope said the law was a "pretext for acts of violence against religious minorities".

The Pope, who has used many recent addresses to demand religious freedom, also renewed his condemnation of attacks on churches that left dozens dead in Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria. And he called for religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, where Christians cannot worship in public, and China, which forces Catholics to join an official church.

The Pope said: "The particular influence of a given religion in a nation ought never to mean that citizens of another religion can be subject to discrimination in social life or, even worse, that violence against them can be tolerated."

The Vatican is particularly worried about Christians in the Middle East, where continuing attacks, combined with severe restrictions, are fuelling a Christian exodus from the region.

In his address to diplomats representing 170 countries, the Pope said attacks in Egypt and Iraq showed the need to adopt effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.

Pakistan's anti-blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since November when a court sentenced? a Christian woman to death, in a case that has exposed deep rifts in the country.