US blasts Pak blasphemy laws

8220;We very much regret the needless death of Joseph 8230;.Deplore and condemn the imposition of a sentence of death on an individual for the peaceful expression of his beliefs,8221; state department spokesman James Foley said.

8220;In the past, we have repeatedly called upon the government of Pakistan to repeal the blasphemy law, which contributes to a climate of religious intolerence. We take this opportunity to do so once again,8221; Foley told a news briefing.

Foley, however, admitted that he had only preliminary reports of the bishop8217;s death from American Consulate in Lahore, and that the officials were seeking moreinformation.

Meanwhile, PTI reports from Islamabad that thousands of Christian mourners, shouting anti-government slogans, today vowed to sacrifice their lives for the abolition of the 8220;notorious blasphemy law8221; of Pakistan which led to the suicide of a Catholic bishop in a session court in Sahiwal two days ago.

Nearly 10,000 mourners converged on a rural red brick church and filed past the body of Joseph at his native place, Khushpur, near Faisalabad and vowed to 8220;fight till death8221; for the abolition of the blasphemy law under section 295-C of the Pakistan penal code.

Inside and outside the church angry Christians shouted slogans denouncing the blasphemy law passed under the military strongman general Zia-ul-Haq and still on the statute books of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Twenty five-year-old Masih was earlier sentenced to death for allegedly speaking in favour of British author Salman Rushdie who is facing death penalty by Iranian religious leaders for allegedly making blasphemous comments aboutProphet Mohammad in his book Satanic Verses.

Christian sources in Sahiwal said that Masih was convicted on April 27 in the case because of a land dispute with a Muslim landlord. Joseph, who was head of Faisalabad diocese, travelled from Faisalabad to Sahiwal and after dinner asked a local parish priest to accompany him to the sessions court and after reaching there he shot himself in the head at the spot where Ayub Masih was attacked and shot at in November 1997. The charges against Masih was brought in October 1997.

The bishop reportedly told people that the case against Masih was essentially one man8217;s word against another8217;s. He also accused the judge of giving more weightage to the statement of the accuser as he was a Muslim. According to National Commission for Justice and Peace the dispute arose when a number of Christian landless peasants applied for allotment of land to the provincial government for land. A blasphemy case was soon filed against Masih which led to all the Christian familiesfleeing the area in fear.