Page 28 - bon-dia-aruba-20200801

A28 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 1 auguSt 2020
Thousands rally in Pakistan in support of killer of American

By KATHY GANNON Most are Muslims and many
Associated Press belong to the Ahmadyya
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Thou- sect of Islam, reviled by
sands of radical Islamists ral- mainstream Muslims as her-
lied on Friday in northwest- etics.
ern Pakistan in support of a Besides the State Depart-
man who earlier this week ment, the U.S. Commission
walked into a courtroom in on International Freedom
the city of Peshawar and condemned Naseem's kill-
gunned down a U.S. citizen ing.
on trial for blasphemy. "Pakistan's blasphemy laws
The American, Tahir Nas- are indefensible to begin
eem, died of his wounds with, but it is outrageous
before he could be taken beyond belief that the
to hospital while the gun- Pakistani government was
man, Faisal Khan, was tak- incapable of keeping an
en into custody. individual from being mur-
The U.S. State Department dered within a court of law
said Naseem was stand- for his faith, and a U.S. citi-
ing trial after being "lured zen, nonetheless," Commis-
to Pakistan" from his home sioner Johnnie Moore said
in Illinois and entrapped by in a statement.
the country's controversial Supporters of a religious group chant slogan during a rally favoring the Khalid Khan, who gunned "Pakistan must protect re-
down Tahir Naseem in courtroom, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Friday, July 31, 2020.
blasphemy law, which in- Associated Press ligious minorities, includ-
ternational rights groups ing individuals accused of
have sought to have re- leased on Thursday. mediately reform its often praising Khan for the killing, blasphemy, in order to pre-
pealed. The U.S. statement Pakistani officials said abused blasphemy laws calling for his immediate re- vent such unimaginable
did not elaborate on the Naseem was charged and its court system, which lease from jail and saying tragedies," Moore said in
circumstances in which with blasphemy after he allow such abuses to oc- he killed Naseem because the statement.
Naseem came to be in the declared himself Islam's cur, and to ensure that the the government was too The Commission declared
South Asian country. prophet. Police in Pesha- suspect is prosecuted to slow in prosecuting blas- Pakistan a "country of par-
The blasphemy law calls for war, who originally identi- the full extent of the law," phemy cases. ticular concern" in its 2020
the death penalty for any- fied him as Tahir Shameem said the statement issued "We are not in favor of tak- report released last month
one found guilty of insulting Ahmed but later corrected by Cale Brown, the State ing the law into our own because of its treatment of
Islam. But in Pakistan, the themselves, said he was ar- Department's principal hands, but Faisal did what minorities.
mere allegation of blas- rested two years ago. deputy spokesperson. the government should Religious minorities in Paki-
phemy can cause mobs The assailant was also ini- However, in deeply con- have done two years ago," stan are increasingly under
to riot and vigilantes to kill tially identified incorrectly, servative Pakistan, any at- said Mufti Shahabuddin attack even as Prime Minis-
those accused. as Khalid Khan. It was later tempt to even amend the Popalzai, who led the rally ter Imran Khan preaches a
"We are shocked, sad- learned his real name is blasphemy law to make through the narrow streets "tolerant" Pakistan. Observ-
dened, and outraged Faisal Khan. It wasn't clear it more difficult to bring of the old city. ers warn of even tougher
that American citizen Ta- how he managed to enter charges or abuse it has Although Pakistani authori- times ahead as Khan vac-
hir Naseem was killed yes- the courtroom on Wednes- brought mobs out on the ties have yet to carry out illates between trying to
terday inside a Pakistani day and get past security street. a death sentence for blas- forge a pluralistic nation
courtroom," read the State with a weapon. At the rally in Peshawar, the phemy, there are scores and his conservative Islam-
Department statement, re- "We urge Pakistan to im- demonstrators carried signs of accused on death row. ic beliefs.q

Spain sets temperature records, U.K. sees hottest day of 2020

MADRID (AP) — As parts of cy, Aemet, said tropical port west of London. That
Spain set record tempera- nights— when tempera- made Friday the hottest
tures during a heatwave, tures do not fall below 20 day of 2020 and the third-
people in Britain sweltered degrees Celsius (68 de- hottest on record.
and flocked to beaches grees Fahrenheit) — were Previous bouts of hot
Friday on the country's hot- also frequent in many parts weather have seen people
test day so far this year. of Spain in July. pack beaches around the
San Sebastian on Spain's "Climate change is increas- British coast — not always
northern coast witnessed ing the frequency of heat- observing social distanc-
42 degrees Celsius (107 de- waves," it said, adding that ing measures intended to
grees Fahrenheit) on Thurs- the annual number of days prevent the spread of the
day -- the hottest temper- in heatwave conditions has coronavirus.
ature there since records doubled since the 1980s. The city council in Brighton,
began in 1955, the national To the north, U.K. residents on England's south coast,
weather agency said. sought shade as tem- appealed for visitors to stay
The city of Palma, on Spain's peratures rose above 37 away, saying it was "con-
Mediterranean island of degrees Celsius. National cerned about the number
Mallorca, set a local record weather agency the Met of people in the city."
Beachgoers enjoy the sunshine and sea on what is now Britain's of 40.6 degrees Celsius (105 Office said a reading of "Large numbers make it im-
hottest day of the year so far, in Brighton, England, Friday, July degrees Fahrenheit) on 37.8 degrees Celsius — 100 possible to maintain physi-
31, 2020. Tuesday. degrees Fahrenheit — was cal distancing," the council
Associated Press The Spanish weather agen- recorded at Heathrow Air- said. q