ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The United States urged Pakistan on Thursday to take action over the killing of an American national in a crowded courtroom as he faced trial for blasphemy.
Tahir Ahmed Naseem was shot multiple times at close range as he appeared in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday.
"We urge Pakistan to take immediate action and pursue reforms that will prevent such a shameful tragedy from happening again," the US State Department said in a tweet.
As Naseem's arraignment began before the judge, a young man in the room pulled out a handgun and shot him in the head, officials and witnesses said. The young man was arrested on the spot.
On Thursday, supporters of a hard-line Islamist group held a protest rally in Peshawar calling for the release of the suspected shooter, saying he had defended his religion.
The aftermath of the killing, captured on video and shared on social media, showed Naseem slumped over in a chair beside the judge's bench, as other shackled prisoners, some with bloodied clothes, were taken from the room.
"The young man who shot him had no remorse," Latif Afridi, who heads the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, told Reuters.
Afridi questioned how the man managed to get a gun into the court given that all visitors are checked thoroughly at three different points.
"It is likely someone who can go without being checked, perhaps a police officer or a lawyer, handed the shooter the gun after he entered," he said.
According to the charge sheet against Naseem, seen by Reuters, the American was in contact with a student at an Islamic school in Pakistan on Facebook and told him he was a messiah sent by God.
Naseem later met the student in Peshawar, after which police arrested him and charged him with a number of crimes, including blasphemy, which can bring the death penalty in Pakistan.
US urges Pakistan to act after American charged with blasphemy shot in court
https://arab.news/y5nbg
US urges Pakistan to act after American charged with blasphemy shot in court
- The US State Department asks Islamabad to 'pursue reforms that will prevent such a shameful tragedy from happening again'
- Tahir Ahmed Naseem claimed to be a 'messiah sent by God' while talking to a seminary student on internet
Pakistan, China launch joint programs to advance vocational education
- Both sides agree to develop resources in culinary arts, fashion, chemical technology and agriculture disciplines
- Pakistan, with a huge youth population, is keen to equip its workforce with skills to boost remittance inflows
ISLAMABAD: Chinese and Pakistani officials signed a package of cooperation documents and launched joint programs to advance vocational education in various disciplines this week, Pakistani state media reported on Thursday, aiming to integrate the needs of various industries with skills training.
The agreements were announced at the “Seminar on International Cooperation and Exchange: Integration of Industry and Education in Vocational Education between China and Pakistan” held in China’s capital Beijing this Tuesday.
Twenty-one items were signed and five cooperation platforms were unveiled between the two sides, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported. These items and platforms covered professional standards, shared teaching resources, faculty and curriculum development and enterprise-linked training bases.
“Vocational education has the ingredients to transform the dreams of young people into jobs, skills and employment,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi was quoted as saying by APP.
Under the Professional Standards and International Teaching Resource Database track, partners agreed to develop standards and resources in disciplines such as Culinary Arts & Nutrition, Fashion and Costume Design, Food Inspection and Testing, Supply Chain Operation, Fine Chemical Technology, Modern Agriculture Production, and Information Security Technology Applications, the APP said.
Pakistan’s National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NVTTC), provincial technical education and training bodies also took part in the event.
A second set of vocational education agreements established workshops and colleges aligned with priority sectors.
Examples include the Saishang Workshop in culinary training, a China–Pakistan Automotive Overseas Workshop for New Energy Vehicle Technology involving Hunan Automotive Engineering Vocational University, NAVTTC and the MG JW Automobile Pakistan Limited company.
Vocational training that helps equip young people with skills is important for a country like Pakistan with a large youthful population.
Islamabad is also keen to equip its workforce with skills aligned with the latest industry requirements to enhance overseas employment opportunities and boost remittance inflows.
