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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/assassins-kill-pakistani-minister.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Pakistan minister for religious minorities Shabaz Bhatti - the only Christian in the country's cabinet - has been shot dead (AP)" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/min-assassins-kill-pakistani-minister.jpg" alt="Pakistan minister for religious minorities Shabaz Bhatti - the only Christian in the country's cabinet - has been shot dead (AP)"/></a></p>
<p>Islamic fundamentalists have murdered the only Christian in Pakistan&#8217;s cabinet for opposing the country&#8217;s blasphemy laws.</p>
<p>Minister of minority affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic in his 40s, was sprayed with bullets outside his parents&#8217; home in Islamabad.</p>
<p>The killing further undermines Pakistan&#8217;s image as a moderate Islamic state and could deepen recent political turmoil.</p>
<p>In pamphlets found at the scene of the shooting, al Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban said they targeted Mr Bhatti because of his faith and because he allegedly belonged to a committee that was reviewing the blasphemy laws which at the moment carry the death penalty for insulting Islam.</p>
<p>Mr Bhatti had just pulled out of the drive when three men standing nearby opened fire.</p>
<p>Two of the men opened the door and tried to pull him out, as a third fired his Kalashnikov rifle repeatedly into the car. The killers then drove off.</p>
<p>The government condemned the killing but made no direct reference to the blasphemy law controversy that apparently motivated the assassins.</p>
<p>A spokesman for president Asif Ali Zardari said: &#8220;This is a concerted campaign to slaughter every liberal, progressive and humanist voice in Pakistan. The time has come for the federal government and provincial governments to speak out and to take a strong stand against these murderers to save the very essence of Pakistan.&#8221;</p>
<p>In January, Punjab province governor Salman Taseer was killed by a bodyguard after the politician opposed the blasphemy laws. Many ordinary citizens praised the assassin.</p>
<p>The leaflets at the scene of the shooting blamed the government for putting Mr Bhatti, an &#8220;infidel Christian&#8221;, in charge of an unspecified committee and said that &#8220;this is the horrible fate of this cursed one&#8221;.</p>
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