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The brother
of a Pakistani police guard who assassinated a liberal
politician for opposing the country's anti-blasphemy laws is
optimistic he will never be prosecuted -- and he probably
has good reason to be.
After the
police guard, Mumtaz Qadri, pumped 27 bullets into Punjab
Governor Salman Taseer on January 4, he was viewed as a hero
by many Pakistanis, highlighting how deeply religious
extremism has penetrated mainstream Pakistani society.
How the case
unfolds in Pakistan, a U.S. ally seen as vital in the war on
militancy will be closely watched by the United States and
other Western countries. Some Western countries accuse the
government of being too soft on Islamist extremism, one of
many destabilizing forces in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Qadri's brother
Dilpazeer Awan, the only brother of six in the family who
does not work for the government, said about 17 state
investigation agencies were still questioning relatives on
whether he had any ties to political or religious groups.
Awan said he
believed Qadri acted on his own.
Whatever the
case, the widespread and emotionally-charged support Qadri
enjoyed after the killing suggests the already unpopular
government would risk a huge backlash if Qadri is convicted,
or even if he is merely brought to trial.
"If God is
willing, even the government will support him when the time
comes. We are hopeful that the judiciary will do justice,"
Awan told Reuters.
Even though
Qadri confessed, analysts say the government is likely to
tread cautiously because influential religious parties had
succeeded in demonizing Taseer, and Pakistanis who opposed
the killing have been silenced by fear.
"The religious
right will be up in arms if he is convicted. They will
mobilize their supporters in the streets," said political
analyst Riffat Hussein.
"There is
always the possibility that a lower court will rule against
him, then there will be an appeal and there will be enormous
pressure on the Supreme Court from lawyers and Islamists to
rule in his favor."
More than 500
lawyers have offered to defend Qadri for free.
Taseer, who was
close to President Asif Ali Zardari, had championed the
cause of a Christian woman sentenced to death under the
blasphemy laws which critics say are used to target
religious minorities, often to settle personal scores.
Qadri shot
Taseer at close range at an Islamabad shopping center. Other
bodyguards did not react until he surrendered.
NO EXTREMIST,
SAYS BROTHER
Awan described
his 25-year-old brother as an ordinary, dedicated member of
an elite police force charged with fighting terrorism and
protecting VIPs, not an extremist, as some police officials
have said.
"He was a very
caring, loving person. He was much better than all of us,"
said Awan, a property adviser and motor dealer in the
garrison city of Rawalpindi, also Qadri's home town.
A poster on a
street outside his dingy office described Qadri as a ghazi,
a Muslim who fought a holy war and survived.
Qadri went to
an English-language school, Awan said, not one of the
thousands of Pakistani religious seminaries which have
churned out students highly susceptible to calls for jihad.
In that is
true, Qadri is a potent example of a less tangible, but more
comprehensive threat to stability than Taliban insurgents --
an assault on Pakistani liberalism itself.
Qadri, father
of a two-month-old boy, is in good spirits in prison, where
he is being treated as a hero, said Tariq al Haqqani, who
said he was one his lawyers.
"If the
government wants to survive politically it should go to
Taseer's family and ask them to forgive Qadri," he said.
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