Christian in Pakistan Sentenced to Death*

By MUNIR AHMAD
The Associated Press
Friday, June 1, 2007; 11:18 AM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A Christian was sentenced to death for allegedly
insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammed, and a human rights activist Friday
urged Pakistan's president to spare his life.

Younis Masih, 29, was arrested in September 2005 on the outskirts of the
eastern city of Lahore after residents told police he made derogatory
remarks against Islam and Muhammad.

On Wednesday, a court sentenced Masih to death under Pakistan's harsh
blasphemy laws, which rights groups say have been misused against
Christians since former President Gen. Zia ul-Haq enacted them in 1980s
to win the support of hard-line religious groups.

Shahbaz Bhatti, who heads the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance_ which
groups together Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Parsis, who follow
Zoroastrianism _ said only President Gen. Pervez Musharraf could pardon
Masih.

"I met with Younis Masih at a jail in Lahore, and he told me that he
respects Islam and its prophet," Bhatti said, adding Masih told him that
dozens of Muslims thrashed him on Sept. 10, 2005, when he asked them not
to sing loudly because his nephew had died, and his body was still lying
at home.

"It was Younis Masih's only mistake," Bhatti said, adding that a group
of Muslims began beating him and handed him over to police, which
registered a case against him under blasphemy laws.

He said rights groups have been demanding the repeal of blasphemy laws,
saying they were being abused by religious extremists to settle personal
scores and religious enmity.

He said the legal battle against Masih's conviction will continue, but
"it will take years, and during this period, Younis Masih's fate would
continue to hang in the balance."

Pakistan is an Islamic state where non-Muslims comprise just 3 percent
of the 160 million population. Anyone accused of insulting Islam,
Muhammed or the Quran can be sentenced to death.