Sprayed with 25 bullets: Pakistan's only Christian minister executed by Taliban gunman after campaigning for free speech



Shahbaz Bhatti was an opponent of blasphemy laws that impose death penalty for insulting Islam

A branch of the Taliban claimed responsibility for the ambushing

Politician had defied death threats and was without protection - despite having bodyguard

Assassinated: Pakistan minister Shahbaz Bhatti was shot dead by suspected Taliban gunmen who sprayed his car with bullets as he drove to work

Assassins sent by Al Qaeda and the Taliban gunned down Pakistan's only Christian minister in broad daylight in the heart of the capital Islamabad today.

Shahbaz Bhatti, a 42-year-old Roman Catholic, died after his car was sprayed with bullets in a carefully planned ambush as he drove from his mother's home.

It was the second assassination in two months of a high-profile opponent of Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam.

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Mr Bhatti had defied warnings after receiving death threats for urging reform of the laws and his death further undermines Pakistan's shaky image as a moderate Islamic state - deepening the political turmoil in this nuclear-armed, U.S.-allied state where militants frequently stage suicide attacks.

A branch of the Taliban claimed responsibility for the death of what they called a 'blasphemer' and warned: 'We will continue to target all those who speak against the law which punishes those who insult the prophet. Their fate will be the same.'

The claim came as a video emerged apparently showing a British Muslim filmed alongside Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area for the first time.

The recently released martyrdom video showed a man dubbed 'Musa the British' among a montage of fighters who have died either in firefights with Coalition forces or as suicide bombers.

It is the first time that a Briton has appeared on an Al Qaeda suicide video since those featuring the 7/7 bombers who struck on London's transport system.

The internet video glorifies militants - it is meant to recruit others - and features a bomb attack on a U.S. army convoy and a suicide bombing in Iraq.

The montage of dead militants includes 'Musa', a bearded man shown praying with the on-screen message declaring: 'May God have mercy on his soul.'

Riddled with bullets: Mr Bhatti was in his car outside his parents' house when the gunman approached and opened fire

No escape: The car was penetrated by some 25 bullets which left the minister with little chance of survival

Anti-terror investigators, who say the video underlines concerns that Britons are fighting with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, say they are trying to identify 'Musa'.

Both the Taliban and Al Qaeda have become increasingly bold in their attacks inside Pakistan in recent months.

Leaflets from both groups were found at the site of Mr Bhatti's ambush today.

He had received so many death threats that he had left a video-taped message with the BBC and the Al-Jazeera satellite TV station to be broadcast in the event of his death.

In the farewell statement, Mr Bhatti said he was threatened by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but that this would not deter him from speaking for 'oppressed and marginalized persecuted Christians and other minorities' in Pakistan.

'I will die to defend their rights,' he said on the tape. 'These threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles.'

Despite the threats, Mr Bhatti, who had been assigned bodyguards, was without protection. The politician had just pulled out of the driveway of the house, where he frequently stayed, when three men standing nearby opened fire, said Gulam Rahim, a witness.

Two of the men opened the door of the car and tried to pull Mr Bhatti out, Rahim said, while a third man fired his Kalashnikov rifle repeatedly into the dark-colored Toyota, shattering the windows.

Gruesome: The blood-stained seat of the black car Shahbaz Bhatti was in when the gunman opened fire

Distraught: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (right) pays his respects over the body of Mr Bhatti and spoke with the victim's family

Shock: Mr Bhatti's sister Mona has to be comforted by relatives after she learns of his death

The gunmen then sped away in a white Suzuki Mehran car, said Rahim who took shelter behind a tree. Bhatti was dead on arrival at an area hospital, while his driver was not harmed.

Government officials condemned the killing, but made no reference to the blasphemy law controversy which has been in the international spotlight since a Christian woman was sentenced to die last November for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammad during a row with Muslim women. She denies the claims.

Mr Bhatti, who was minister for religious minorities, had been given police and paramilitary guards, but rarely used them because it had been a bodyguard who in January had killed killed Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer, another opponent of the blasphemy laws.

To the horror of Pakistan's besieged liberals, many ordinary citizens praised the governor's assassin - a sign of the spread of hardline Islamist thought in the country.

Mr Bhatti had requested a bullet-proof car but had not been given one.

Anger: Meanwhile Christian demonstrator reacted with fury to the assassination, lighting tyres in the street

Unrest: Others protested with placards and slogans demanding greater rights

With his death, Pakistani Christians lost their most prominent advocate. Christians are the largest religious minority in the country, where roughly 5 per cent of 180 million people are not Muslim. They have very little political power and tend to work in lower-level jobs, such as street sweeping.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York joined the Vatican in condemning the killing. Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu said: 'It is with the greatest shock and sorrow that we have heard of the assassination of Mr Shahbaz Bhatti.

'This further instance of sectarian bigotry and violence will increase anxiety worldwide about the security of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan, and we urge that the Government of Pakistan will do all in its power to bring to justice those guilty of such crimes and to give adequate protection to minorities.'

Tears: People comfort a Christian woman after she heard of the death of Mr Batti



