If the government allows Bibi to leave, it would likely face more paralysing protests from the TLP and other parties.
A Pakistani Christian woman has been freed from prison a week after the Supreme Court overturned her conviction and death sentence for blasphemy against Islam, and she is at a secure location for fear of attacks on her, officials said on Thursday.
The release of Asia Bibi, a mother of five, prompted immediate anger from a party that has threatened to paralyse daily life countrywide with street protests if her acquittal is not reversed.
Bibi, 53, was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 over allegations she made derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.
She always denied having committed blasphemy.
Pakistan has invited Turkey to join the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which would benefit both countries, official media said Thursday."Pakistan highly values its relations with Turkey, and the new government desires to further strengthen relations between Islamabad and Ankara, said Asad Qaiser, speaker of the National Assembly, while speaking with Turkey’s ambassador to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul.Yurdakul met with Qaiser in his office at Parliament House in Islamabad.According to state-run Radio Pakistan, Qaiser invited Turkey to join CPEC, which will benefit all countries in the region.CPEC, a $64 billion megaproject signed in 2014, aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinjiang province to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port through a network of roads, railways and pipelines to transport cargo, oil and gas.The economic corridor will not only provide China with cheaper access to Africa and the Middle East but will also earn Pakistan billions of dollars for providing transit facilities to the world’s second-largest economy.Turkey’s ambassador also vowed to strengthen relations with Pakistan."The Turkish people always consider Pakistan as their second home, and we wish to see this country always strong and prosperous," Yurdakul said.Yurdakul also extended an invitation to Qaiser to attend the second League of Parliamentarian Conference for Al-Quds, which will be held on Dec. 14 in Istanbul.
Pakistan invites Turkey to join $64 billion megaproject
The case has outraged Christians worldwide, and Pope Francis met Bibi's family this year, saying he prayed for her. Italy said on Tuesday it would try to help Bibi, who is Catholic, to leave Pakistan.
Muahmmad Faisal, spokesman for Pakistan foreign ministry, on Thursday morning denied media reports Bibi has been flown out of country.
"She is in Pakistan," Faisal told Reuters via the WhatsApp messaging service.
Insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammad carries a mandatory death penalty in Pakistan, which is about 95 percent Muslim and has among the harshest blasphemy laws in the world.
Pakistan's balance of payment crisis is over after Beijing’s assurance it would provide short-term financial relief to Islamabad, the country’s finance minister said on Tuesday.The announcement came a day before an International Monetary Fund team is due to arrive in Islamabad to discuss a financial package for the country.Addressing a press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar said that during Premier Imran Khan’s just-concluded visit to China, Beijing agreed to extend an economic relief package to Pakistan."Pakistan urgently needed $12 billion to bridge the gap of the current account deficit, and that gap was almost filled with the help of Saudi Arabia and China," said Umar, but gave no details of China's package.The governor of Pakistan’s State Bank and Finance Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan will meet Chinese officials on Friday in Beijing to discuss the package, he added.Pakistan, China agree to trade in yuanOver 1,200 arrested over blasphemy protests in PakistanChina's economic future is linked to Pakistan through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), though which China hopes to gain access to the Arabian Sea.Saudi Arabia last month announced a $6 billion financial package for Pakistan during Khan’s visit to the kingdom.Beijing and Islamabad signed 15 agreements and memoranda of understanding during Khan’s visit, including one for using Chinese currency in bilateral trade in lieu of U.S. dollars."The use of local currencies in bilateral trade would benefit both countries, while China also offered subsidized foreign exchange rates when both countries trade in local currencies," Umar said.Qureshi said that both countries agreed to upgrade the strategic dialogue to the foreign minister-level and strengthen cooperation in all fields, including defense and the economy.China and Pakistan also agreed that prisoners of both countries will serve their remaining sentences in their respective countries, Qureshi added.
Pakistan says Chinese help stemmed payment crisis
No executions for blasphemy have been carried out in Pakistan but enraged mobs sometimes kill people accused of blasphemy.
Christians make up about 2 percent of the population.
Three security officials told Reuters early on Thursday that Bibi had been released from a prison in Multan, a city in the south of Punjab province.
She was flown to the airport near the capital, Islamabad, and was in protective custody because of threats to her life, said the three officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
People continue to protest against Pakistani Supreme Court's decision to acquit Christian woman Aasia Bibi of blasphemy against Islam and Prophet Muhammad as demonstrations reach the third day at the D-Chowk region in Islamabad, Pakistan. Aasia Bibi, was sentenced to death by a district court in 2010 for blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad before Supreme Court's acquittal. Police removed containers with cranes on protesters' demand to march towards the constitutional court.Aasia Bibi protests stymie Pakistan for third day
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"All I can tell you is that she has been released," lawyer Saif-ul-Mulook told Reuters by phone from the Netherlands.
A spokesman for the hard-line Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) party, which took to the streets after the Supreme Court ruling, said her release violated a deal with the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to end the protests.
"The TLP activists are agitated as the government has breached the agreement with our party. The rulers have showed their dishonesty," party spokesman Ejaz Ashrafi told Reuters.
Under the deal, the government said it would not block a petition to the Supreme Court to review Bibi's acquittal in light of sharia, Islamic religious law, the TLP said.
It also said the government promised to work to ensure Bibi could not leave the country.
If the government allows Bibi to leave, it would likely face more paralysing protests from the TLP and other parties.