Islamabad, Pakistan – Protesters belonging to Pakistan’s far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) group have released 11 police officers abducted during violent clashes in the eastern city of Lahore, the country’s interior minister says, as negotiations remain ongoing.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed, speaking in a video message issued early on Monday, said “a lot of progress” had been made in the first round of negotiations.
“They have released the 11 policemen they had abducted and the people of the TLP have gone into the Rehmat ul Alimeen mosque and police have also moved back,” Rasheed said.
Several policemen and protesters were wounded in clashes on Sunday, which began after TLP activists attacked a police station in the Sodhiwal area of Pakistan’s second city Lahore, police spokesperson Nayab Haider told Al Jazeera.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for Muslim-majority countries to band together to lobby Western governments to criminalise the insulting of Islam’s prophet, as negotiations between his government and a far-right anti-blasphemy religious group continue.
In a televised address to the nation from the capital, Islamabad, on Monday, Khan said he would lead a campaign of Muslim-majority countries to “convince” Western countries on the issue of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.
“We need to explain why this hurts us, when in the name of freedom of speech they insult the honour of the prophet,” Khan said.
Pakistan: TLP protesters free abducted policemen after violence – Voice Of Vienna voiceofvienna.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from voiceofvienna.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.