Man killed in Pakistan court was American: US

ISLAMABAD: A man gunned down this week in a Pakistani courtroom while standing trial on a charge of blasphemy was a US citizen, according to a US state department statement. Tahir Naseem was “lured to Pakistan” from his home in Illinois and entrapped by the country’s blasphemy laws, the statement issued late on Thursday said. It did not elaborate on the circumstances in which Naseem came to be in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law calls for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of insulting Islam. Pakistani officials said Naseem was charged with blasphemy after he declared himself a prophet. “We urge Pakistan to reform its often abused blasphemy laws and its court system, which allow such abuses to occur, and to ensure that the suspect is prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said the US statement. The US Commission on International Freedom too condemned the killing.