World

Pakistan arrests 300 supporters of detained cleric

24 of November 2018

FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2017 file photo, the head of the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Labbaik radical religious party, Khadim Hussain Rizvi prays during a sit-in protest in Islamabad, Pakistan. The party of a radical Islamic cleric who disrupted daily life with rallies across Pakistan following the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case says he has been arrested Friday, Nov. 23, 2018 by police in the city of Lahore. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, file),FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2017 file photo, the head of the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Labbaik radical religious party, Khadim Hussain Rizvi prays during a sit-in protest in Islamabad, Pakistan. The party of a radical Islamic cleric who disrupted daily life with rallies across Pakistan following the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case says he has been arrested Friday, Nov. 23, 2018 by police in the city of Lahore. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, file)

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Police in Pakistan have arrested some 300 supporters of a detained radical Islamic cleric who disrupted daily life with nationwide rallies following the acquittal of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy.

Senior police officer Tahir Mahmood said Saturday that supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party were picked up in sweeps across Punjab province following the arrest of its leader, Khadim Hussain Rizvi.

Police also arrested scores of Rizvi’s supporters as they took to streets to protest his overnight arrest.

Rizvi’s supporters held violent rallies against the Supreme Court’s Oct. 31 acquittal of Aasia Bibi. He has called for more protests on Sunday in the capital, Islamabad.

Pakistan’s hard-line Islamists have threatened to kill anyone who insults Islam or who speaks out against the blasphemy law.