Pakistan set to rule on woman facing death for blasphemy

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A defense lawyer says Pakistan's top court is set to announce a final verdict on a Christian woman sentenced to death in 2010 on blasphemy charges.

Saiful Malook, a lawyer for Asia Bibi, says the Supreme Court will announce a verdict on Wednesday, and that he is "hopeful for Bibi's acquittal."

Bibi was arrested in 2009 after a quarrel with Muslim women. Islamists have demanded her execution, and a governor and a minister of minorities were assassinated in 2011 for supporting her.

Insulting Islam is punishable by death in Pakistan, and the mere rumor of blasphemy can ignite lynchings.