The government and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have reached terms to conclude the latter's nationwide protest, DawnNewsTV has reported, with the government making the concession to "initiate the legal process" to place Asia Bibi's name on the exit control list (ECL).

The government has also said it will not oppose a review petition filed against the Supreme Court's judgement in the Asia Bibi blasphemy case.

The government has also promised to take appropriate legal action to redress any deaths that may have occurred during the protests against the Asia Bibi verdict and to release all people picked up in connection with the protests starting October 30.

The TLP has, in turn, apologised if it "hurt the sentiments or inconvenienced anyone without reason".

The agreement was signed by Dr Noorul Haq Qadri (religious affairs minister) and Raja Basharat (law minister Punjab) on behalf of the government, and by Pir Muhammad Afzal Qadri (senior leader of the TLP) and Muhammad Waheed Noor (central chief nazim of the TLP).

Following the agreement with the government, the TLP leaders addressed the participants of their protest in Lahore and asked them to end the protest and clear the roads, DawnNewsTV reported.

“The party leaders have announced to end protest sit-ins across the country. Workers have been asked to disperse peacefully,” TLP spokesperson Pir Ijaz Qadri said.

The complainant in the Asia Bibi case, Qari Muhammad Salaam, had filed a review petition a day earlier through his counsel, Ghulam Mustafa, against the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Asia's conviction in the blasphemy case.

The petitioner had also sought the placement of Asia's name on the Exit Control List (ECL) till the judgement is reviewed.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had said yesterday that the federal government does not plan to “put Asia Bibi’s name on the exit control list (ECL) or [file an] appeal for a review against the apex court’s verdict”.

It had further said that the review petition filed by Salaam was "filed by the concerned party, which has nothing to do with the government”. </s> Detaining of Khadim Hussain Rizvi, leader of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan was not linked to Asia Bibi case, minister Fawad Chaudhry said.

Firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who is the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party, was detained ahead of a scheduled rally on Saturday in Islamabad. (Photo:

Islamabad: Pakistani police late Friday detained a hardline cleric whose party recently paralysed the country with violent protests over the acquittal of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy.

Firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who is the leader of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party, was detained ahead of a scheduled rally on Saturday in Islamabad, the country's information minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted.

"Khadim Hussain Rizvi has been taken into protective custody by police and shifted to a guest house," Chaudhry tweeted, adding that the move was not linked to the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was on death row for eight years before the Supreme Court overturned her blasphemy conviction last month.

"It's to safeguard public life, property and order and has to do nothing with (the) Asia Bibi case," Chaudhry tweeted.

"Law shall take its course and it cannot be left to individuals," he added.

The court's decision sparked furious demonstrations led by the hardline TLP, with protesters calling for Bibi's execution as they blocked major roads, leaving large swathes of the country paralysed.

In response, the government made a deal with the Islamists to impose a travel ban on Bibi, who was released from jail earlier this month as she awaits the outcome of a final review of her case.

The TLP has vowed to return to the streets if she is allowed to leave the country.

In a video message released on Friday, another TLP leader Pir Afzal Qadri called for fresh protests, saying police had arrested dozens of party workers in the port city of Karachi and in parts of central Punjab province including Lahore.

Blasphemy is a massively inflammatory issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and Prophet Mohammed can lead to lynchings and murders.

Bibi's conviction stemmed from a 2009 incident when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields.

Muslim women labourers objected to her touching the water bowl as a non-Muslim, and a fight reportedly erupted.

Bibi has consistently denied the charges, and her prosecution rallied international rights groups, politicians and religious figures. </s> The release of imprisoned Christian mother Asia Bibi has been delayed as the Pakistan Supreme Court will have to review its decision to acquit the farm laborer of blasphemy charges after signing an agreement with a radical Muslim group.

Powered by Tehreek-e-Labbaik and other extremist parties, thousands of radical Muslim have protested nationwide since the Pakistan Supreme Court acquitted Bibi (also known as Aasiya Noreen) on Wednesday. The protests and sit-ins have grown and led to the disruption of cell service and school closures in some cities.

It was reported by her family on Thursday that Bibi (also known as Aasiya Noreen) was expected to be released and allowed the leave the country Thursday night after spending eight years on death row for blasphemy accusations that she denies.

But according to The Associated Press, an agreement was struck Friday between the Pakistan government and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Party, which staunchly supports the nation's controversial blasphemy laws and was founded out of support for a man who was convicted of killing a Pakistani politician who sought blasphemy reform.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony, Noorul Haq Qadri, who signed the agreement, announced that Bibi won't be allowed to leave Pakistan until the Supreme Court makes a final review of its verdict. In exchange, the TLP will call off their protests.

Pakistan's DawnNewsTV reports that the government agreed to "initiate the legal process" to place Bibi on the exit control list.

"Placing Asia Bibi on the ECL is like signing her death warrant," Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, told The Guardian.

The agreement comes as the lawyer for the Muslim complainant who accused Bibi of blasphemy filed a petition for review of the Supreme Court decision on Thursday. The government said it won't oppose the request for Supreme Court review.

Additionally, the government reportedly agreed to release people who were arrested during the protests against the Supreme Court's decision.

The TLP agreed to apologize for the fact that its protests might have "hurt the sentiments or inconvenienced anyone without reason."

In addition to Qadri, the agreement was signed by Punjab law minister Raja Basharat.

On behalf of TLP, the agreement was signed by leader Muhammad Afzal Qadri, who earlier this week had called for the death of the three Supreme Court justices involved in Bibi's acquittal. The agreement was also signed by fellow TLP leader Muhammad Waheed Noor.

According to the AP, Pakistan's Supreme Court isn't known to reverse its decisions. However, court reviews can take years to settle, which could mean that Bibi might spend years more in prison.

In prison, Bibi's life has been in danger.

On Thursday, Pakistani authorities revealed that they arrested two prisoners last month for plotting to kill Bibi.

If she's released, activists say Bibi would need to be granted asylum in a foreign country because of the number of radical Muslims who want her dead in Pakistan.

Spain and France have reportedly offered the mother asylum, according to Bibi's family.

The BPCA, a London-based charity, has launched a petition calling on Western governments to offer asylum to Bibi and members of her family.

Chowdhry has been in contact with Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih. Chowdhry reports that if Bibi and Masih are granted asylum in Spain or France, only her children who are dependent on her and her husband's care will also be granted asylum.

"We the undersigned ... urge all Western nations to offer full-family asylum for Asia Bibi, her husband Ashiq Masih and all her children, their spouses and Asia's grandchildren," the petition reads. "We also call for similar provision for their guardian Joseph Nadeem and his family who are also deeply under threat." </s> The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan's (TLP) Chief along with over 100 memebers of the Islamist party have been arrested by the Pakistan police after they had given a protest call for Sunday against the acquittal of Christian woman Asia Bibi.

Last month, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) disrupted daily life across Pakistan by staging widespread protests following Bibi's acquittal in a blasphemy case by the apex court.

"We have taken into custody more than 100 TLP leaders and activists including its chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi from Lahore and other parts of the Punjab province," a senior police officer told PTI on Saturday.

He said a team comprising government officials and clerics tried to persuade Rizvi in Lahore late on Friday night to defer its November 25 protest, but he refused to budge.

"On this police arrested him and other leaders," the officer said.

"Khadim Hussain Rizvi has been taken into protective custody by police from Lahore. The action was prompted by TLP's refusal to withdraw its call for protest on November 25. It is to safeguard public life, property and order," Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted.

The minister, however, clarified that the "arrest has nothing to do with Asia Bibi case".

"The TLP has become a continuous threat to the life and properties of the citizens and is doing politics under the guise of religion... the situation is fully under control, people should remain peaceful and fully cooperate with authorities," Chaudhry said.

He said the government did its best to convince the party against staging the protest, but they refused every offer and started to incite violence.

There were reports of TLP workers clashing with police in Lahore following Rizvi's arrest. Three policemen and seven workers are reported to have been injured.

The apex court, in a three-member bench led by chief justice Saqib Nisar, issued the landmark verdict last month.

Following the verdict, the TLP had termed the chief justice and other judges in the bench "liable to be killed" and had called Army chief General Qmar Javed Bajwa a non-Muslim and urged Muslim generals to revolt against him.

Bibi was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting Islam in a row with her neighbours. She always maintained her innocence, but spent most of the past eight years in solitary confinement.

She has been released from the jail and the government says is in a 'safe' house. The government says she cannot leave the country till decision on the review petition against her acquittal. Chief Justice Nisar has ordered full protection to Bibi.

TLP is an Islamist political party with Islamic ideology. It is known for widespread street power and massive protests in opposition to any change to Pakistan's blasphemy law. </s> ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday (Oct 31) freed a Christian woman from a death sentence for blasphemy against Islam and overturned her conviction, sparking angry protests and death threats from an ultra-Islamist party and cheers from human rights advocates.

New Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a warning to the religious right late in the evening that any prolonged blockade of streets would be met with action.

Asia Bibi, a mother of four, had been living on death row since 2010, when she became the first woman to be sentenced to death by hanging under Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws, which critics say are too harsh and often misused.

She was condemned for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. Bibi has always denied committing blasphemy.

The case has outraged Christians worldwide - Pope Francis said he personally prayed for Bibi - and has been a source of division within Pakistan, where two politicians who sought to help Bibi were assassinated.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, who headed a special three-judge bench set up for the appeal, cited the Koran in the ruling, writing that "tolerance is the basic principle of Islam" and noting the religion condemns injustice and oppression.

In overturning her conviction, the ruling said the evidence against Bibi was insufficient.

Bibi did not appear in the courtroom and her whereabouts were a closely held secret for fear of attacks on her and her family. Many have speculated they will be forced to leave the country, but there was no confirmation of their plans.

Her lawyer called the court ruling "great news" for Pakistan.

"Asia Bibi has finally been served justice," lawyer Saiful Mulook told Reuters. "Pakistan's Supreme Court must be appreciated that it upheld the law of the land and didn't succumb to any pressure."

Supporters of Islamist political party Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) immediately condemned Wednesday's ruling and blocked roads in major cities, pelting police with stones in the eastern city of Lahore.

Street protests and blockades of major roads were spreading by mid-afternoon, paralysing parts of Islamabad, Lahore and other cities.

One of the TLP's top leaders called for the death of Nisar, the chief justice, and the two other judges on the panel.

"They all three deserve to be killed. Either their security should kill them, their driver kill them, or their cook kill them," TLP co-founder Muhammad Afzal Qadri told a protest in Lahore.

"Whoever, who has got any access to them, kill them before the evening."

He also called for the ouster of Khan's new government of and for army officers to rise up against powerful military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who he said "should be sacked from the army".

Khan addressed the nation in a televised speech on Wednesday night, supporting the court ruling and warning the ultra-Islamists not to disrupt the nation.

"We will not allow any damages to occur. We will not allow traffic to be blocked," Khan said. "I appeal to you, do not push the state to the extent that it is forced to take action."

The TLP was founded out of a movement supporting a bodyguard who assassinated Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer for advocating for Bibi in 2011. Federal minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was also killed after calling for her release.

In November, TLP staged a crippling blockade of Islamabad after small changes to a religious oath taken by election candidates, which it said were tantamount to blasphemy. Seven people were killed and more than 200 wounded in clashes with the police and TLP's supporters only dispersed after striking a deal with the military.

In February, Bibi's husband, Ashiq Masih, and one of her daughters met Pope Francis shortly before Rome's ancient Coliseum was lit in red one evening in solidarity with persecuted Christians, and Bibi in particular.

The pope told Bibi's daughter: "I think often of your mother and I pray for her."

Christians make up only about 2 per cent of Pakistan's population and are often discriminated against.

Dozens of Pakistanis - including many minority Christians or members of the Ahmadi faith - have been sentenced to death for blasphemy in the past decade, though no one has been executed.

Rights groups say the blasphemy law is exploited by religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores.

Additionally, at least 65 people have been murdered over blasphemy allegations since 1990, including a 23-year-old student beaten to death on his university campus last year.

"This is a landmark verdict," said Omar Waraich, deputy South Asia director for Amnesty International. "The message must go out that the blasphemy laws will no longer be used to persecute the country's most vulnerable minorities." </s> Pakistan’s government has been accused of signing the “death warrant” of Asia Bibi after it said it would begin the process of preventing her leaving the country.

Bibi, a Christian farm labourer, was acquitted of blasphemy on Wednesday. She had spent eight years on death row after she drank from the same cup as a Muslim, prompting false allegations that she insulted the prophet Muhammad.

Bibi’s lawyer, Saif-ul-Mulook, has reportedly since fled the country amid fears for his life, telling AFP: “I need to stay alive as I still have to fight the legal battle for Asia Bibi.”

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration signed an agreement with the anti-blasphemy group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on Friday night, giving in to many of its demands in the face of massive, countrywide protests calling for Bibi to be put to death.

The release of Asia Bibi is a small step towards a more open Pakistan | Kunwar Khuldune Shahid Read more

In a document signed by the PTI’s religious affairs minister and the TLP’s second-in-command, Pir Afzal Qadri, the government promised not to oppose a court petition to reverse Bibi’s release. It also pledged to work in the meantime to put her name on the exit control list (ECL) which would prevent her leaving the country.

“Placing Asia Bibi on the ECL is like signing her death warrant,” said Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Association. Bibi, a mother of five, remains in the same prison where last month two men tried to kill her, although she has been shifted out of her windowless cell.

The agreement was a “historic capitulation”, tweeted analyst Mosharraf Zaidi. On Wednesday night, the prime minister and leader of the PTI, Imran Khan, defended the verdict acquitting Bibi and suggested the government would clamp down on protesters it termed “enemies of the state”.

The TLP has agreed to call off its protests, which saw thousands of Islamists blockade the country’s major motorways, burning cars and lorries and chanting that they were ready to die to protect the honour of the prophet.

Meanwhile, the government has promised to free any TLP workers arrested during the three-day protest. The group has only apologised for the damage it caused, the cost of which one government official estimated at $1.2bn (£900m).

Afzal Qadri told the Guardian “the government has almost accepted our maximum demands” and that if it backtracked “we can come [out on the streets] again”.

Islamists poured on to the streets after Friday prayers in a show of force that briefly unified extremist groups from the majority Barelvi sect, which the TLP springs from, and the more traditionally hardline Deobandis. Terrorist-linked outfits including Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat held rallies in Islamabad, alleging that the EU had pressurised the government into releasing Bibi.

While the protests were ongoing, unknown assailants stabbed Sami ul Haq – the leader of the Haqqania madrasa known as the “father of the Taliban” – to death in his own home.

The spokesperson for Pakistan’s army, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, said that the military’s chief condemned the assassination and expressed “grief and condolences” for the ul Haq family. Earlier in the day, Ghafoor released a statement about the protests which avoided criticising the TLP, despite its leaders calling for soldiers to mutiny. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Asia Bibi's escape from Pakistan death row

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy after spending eight years on death row, has been freed from prison.

Last week's Supreme Court ruling sparked violent protests from Islamists and the government agreed to their demand to stop her leaving Pakistan.

News of her release led to some confusion, with reports she had been taken to another country.

But the foreign office later said she was still in Pakistan.

The case is highly sensitive and Information Minister Fawad Hussein said journalists had been "extremely irresponsible" in reporting she had left the country without official confirmation.

Those reports were based on comments from her lawyer, Saiful Malook, who has been granted temporary asylum in the Netherlands after facing death threats.

Asia Bibi's husband had said they were in danger and pleaded for asylum. A number of Western countries are understood to have held discussions with Asia Bibi's family about granting them asylum.

The mother-of-five was released from prison in the city of Multan on Wednesday and the foreign office says she is in "a safe place in Pakistan".

Also known as Asia Noreen, she was convicted in 2010 of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a row with neighbours.

The Pakistani government has said it will start legal proceedings to prevent her going abroad after agreeing the measure to end the violent protests.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Asia Bibi's acquittal sparked protests by Islamists

Many of the protesters were hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws and called for Asia Bibi to be hanged.

One Islamist leader said all three Supreme Court judges also "deserved to be killed".

A spokesman for the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) party, which blocked roads in major cities for several days, said Asia Bibi's release was in breach of their deal with the government.

"The rulers have showed their dishonesty," TLP spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters.

The deal also saw officials agree not to block a petition for the Supreme Court to evaluate Asia Bibi's acquittal in the light of Islamic Sharia law.

What was Asia Bibi accused of?

The trial stems from an argument Asia Bibi had with a group of women in June 2009.

They were harvesting fruit when a row broke out about a bucket of water. The women said that because she had used a cup, they could no longer touch it, as her faith had made it unclean.

Prosecutors alleged that in the row which followed, the women said Asia Bibi should convert to Islam and that she made offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad in response.

She was later beaten up at her home, during which her accusers say she confessed to blasphemy. She was arrested after a police investigation.

Acquitting her, the Supreme Court said that the case was based on unreliable evidence and her confession was delivered in front of a crowd "threatening to kill her".

Why is this case so divisive?

Islam is Pakistan's national religion and underpins its legal system. Public support for the strict blasphemy laws is strong.

Hard-line politicians have often backed severe punishments, partly as a way of shoring up their support base.

But critics say the laws have often been used to exact revenge after personal disputes, and that convictions are based on thin evidence.

The vast majority of those convicted are Muslims or members of the Ahmadi community who identify themselves as Muslims but are regarded as heretical by orthodox Islam. Since the 1990s scores of Christians have also been convicted. They make up just 1.6% of the population.

The Christian community has been targeted by numerous attacks in recent years, leaving many feeling vulnerable to a climate of intolerance.

Since 1990, at least 65 people have reportedly been killed in Pakistan over claims of blasphemy. </s> Widespread protests across Pakistan over the supreme court’s reversal this week of Asia Bibi’s 2010 death penalty verdict for alleged blasphemy on Friday delayed the release of the Christian mother who family members believe needs to leave the South Asian country soon, citing fears for her safety.

The delay, driven by a petition to the Supreme Court to review Wednesday’s verdict to release Bibi, came despite fears for the safety of the Christian mother.

Protestors have threatened Bibi, her lawyer, and the judges who acquitted her.

“She has no other option, and she will leave the country soon,” James Masih, her brother, told Dawn.

“She can’t be safe here,” Bibi’s brother-in-law, identified only as Nadeem, also told Pakistani newspaper.

“You know what’s going on outside. We want things to settle down before we go ahead for her release,” Nadeem added, referring to protests.

Saiful Mulook, Bibi’s lawyer, noted that he is facing threats from extremists.

“I think I have absolutely no safety. No security and I am the easiest target … anybody can kill me,” he told Dawn.

Following talks with demonstrators who have threatened to hang Bibi publicly, authorities agreed to bar the mother of five from flying abroad on Friday, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

The Islamist Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) party, which rose to prominence during the recent elections by campaigning on punishing blasphemy, orchestrated the protests across Pakistan, which have been raging since the country’s supreme court acquitted Bibi and ordered her release on Wednesday.

[Friday’s] agreement between the government and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party was reached in the city of Lahore where Islamists have been rallying since Wednesday when the Supreme Court overturned the 2010 conviction of Asia Bibi for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Pakistani authorities will now not allow Bibi to leave the country until the Supreme Court makes a final review of its verdict, said provincial minister Noorul Haq Qadri, according to the agreement.

The agreement comes a day after Ghulam Mustafa, the lawyer representing the provincial cleric who filed the initial blasphemy charges against Bibi, petitioned the Supreme Court judges to review her acquittal.

According to AP, the supreme court has yet to schedule a date to take up the petition.

 “Pakistan’s Supreme Court has not been known to reverse its decisions, but court reviews typically take years. Bibi’s ordeal will continue until the review is completed,” AP declares.

Imran Khan, the recently elected prime minister, has urged the thousands of Islamist protesters to respect the supreme court’s decision.

Pakistan has held Bibi since 2009 on years on charges that she defamed Muhammad, an offense that carries a punishment of life in prison or death.

A Pakistani court sentenced Bibi to hang in 2010 for allegedly making “defamatory and sarcastic” comments about the prophet Mohammad after neighbors objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.

Bibi has maintained her innocence throughout her incarceration. </s> Thousands of Islamist protesters have brought parts of Pakistan to a standstill, burning rickshaws, cars and lorries to protest against the acquittal of a Christian woman who spent eight years on death row on false charges of blasphemy.

Traffic jams held up ambulances and forced mothers to feed their babies by the side of the road, while authorities shut schools across most of the country.

Footage from the protests shows anti-blasphemy campaigners clubbing and throwing shoes at posters of Pakistan’s chief justice and the new prime minister, Imran Khan, who on Wednesday night threatened a fierce government response if protesters did not disperse.

The landmark release of Asia Bibi, a 47-year-old farm labourer, has pitched the country into the latest of several battles with supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a rabid, fast-growing political party that exists solely to punish blasphemers.

Ms Bibi was accused of making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim. But a three-judge panel set up to hear the appeal, headed by chief justice Saqib Nisar, ruled the evidence was insufficient.

Police have so far shied away from arresting protesters and the powerful armed forces, which often appear to align with Islamists, have yet to issue a statement, despite TLP leaders daring to call for mutiny in its ranks.

On Thursday, rightwing religious organisations, including Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD), a charity founded by UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed, and the Jamaat-Ulema-e-Islam, announced that they would join the TLP protest on Friday, in what could become an unmanageable conflagration.

The new government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) appeared to backtrack on Thursday evening, sending a five-member negotiating team to meet Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the leader of the TLP. Government officials released contradictory statements on whether they had placed Ms Bibi on the exit control list, which would prevent her fleeing the country.

Ms Bibi’s brother said she would leave Pakistan after her formal release from an undisclosed place where she is being held for security reasons.

James Masih said his sister was not safe in Pakistan and that paperwork for her release and departure to an unspecified country was being processed. He would not say where she planned to go. France and Spain have offered asylum.

In public speeches, Mr Rizvi, the TLP leader, has said his only demand is that the mother of five be put to death, the punishment for blasphemy under Pakistan’s penal code. “Our sit-in will go on until the government accepts our demand,” he said in a telephone interview, denying reports that the sit-in would soon be over.

Imran Khan is scheduled to return on November 5th from a diplomatic visit to China, Pakistan’s oldest ally. Liberals hope that the prime minister, who echoed the TLP’s rhetoric on the campaign trail and has already backed down before the group, will stick to his newfound principles under the most severe test of a turbulent first 10 weeks in power.

“It’s up in the air,” said analyst Fasi Zaka. “You still get the feeling they are figuring out what to do.”

In a televised national broadcast late on Wednesday, prime minister Imran Khan warned the protesters the government would act against any prolonged blockade.

“We will not allow any damages. We will not allow traffic to be blocked,” Mr Khan said. “I appeal to you, do not push the state to the extent that it is forced to take action.” – Guardian/Agencies
According to a pact between Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and two Federal & Provincial Religious Affairs Ministers of Pakistan, the name of Asia Bibi will be placed on the Exit Control List which would prevent her leaving the country. TLP has already filed a review petition against the verdict of Supreme Court of Pakistan in the Asia Bibi blasphemy case.