Man accused of shooting interior minister appears in court
A man accused of shooting Pakistan’s interior minister in a suspected assassination attempt possibly linked to blasphemy appeared in court Monday, with the attack seen as an ominous sign for security ahead of nationwide elections.
Abid Hussain appeared before the anti-terror court in Gujranwala city in Punjab province, where he was remanded into custody for ten days, police official Chaudhry Tariq told AFP.
His appearance came one day after Ahsan Iqbal, 59, was shot in the right arm as he prepared to leave a public meeting in his constituency in Punjab late Sunday.
A man identified by police as Hussain, said to be in his early 20s, was wrestled to the ground by officers and bystanders as he was preparing to fire a second shot.
Police are investigating whether the attack could have had any religious motive.
A local official told AFP that the shooter said he was inspired by a controversy last year in which a small amendment to the oath election candidates must swear had to be hastily reversed after it was linked to blasphemy, a highly inflammatory charge in the deeply conservative Muslim country.
The row sparked a three-week sit-in last November by a previously little-known Islamist group, which paralysed the capital.
That demonstration ended when the government capitulated to the protesters’ demands — including the ousting of the federal law minister — in a deal brokered by the military.
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