Pakistan law minister resigns, Islamists celebrate victory
Pakistani Islamists celebrated their victory over the government on Monday after the country's law minister resigned, caving in to fundamentalist protesters who have been demanding his ouster in a three-week-long rally.
After Zahid Hamid's resignation, the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party, which was behind the sit-in in Islamabad and protests in other cities and towns across Pakistan, said they were dispersing peacefully under an agreement with the government.
The Islamists had demanded Hamid's resignation over an omitted reference to Islam's Prophet Muhammad in a parliamentary bill. He apologized for the omission in the bill, saying it was a clerical error that was later corrected.
But the Islamists persisted, taking to the streets and setting up their sit-in at the Faizabad intersection on the edge of the Pakistani capital. The Islamists effectively blocked the country's key highway, the Grand Trunk Road motorway, linking Islamabad with the eastern Punjab province and the northwest, disrupting life and forcing commuters to look for alternate routes.
Clashes erupted on Saturday when riot police tried to disperse the Islamabad sit-in and descended on the protesters with tear gas and batons, leaving six dead and dozens injured.
