Canada’s Trudeau in talks with Pakistan over Asia Bibi
OTTAWA (REUTERS), NOVEMBER 13, 2018Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday talks are underway with the Pakistani government over a Pakistani Christian woman whose acquittal on blasphemy charges against Islam last month sparked mass protests in the South Asian country.
Asia Bibi, who spent eight years on death row in Pakistan before being released, is in protective custody because her life is in danger from those who disagree with the acquittal. Bibi’s husband, Ashiq Masih, has appealed for help to Britain, Canada, Italy and the United States. “We are in discussions with the Pakistani government,” Trudeau said in an interview with Agence France Presse in Paris, where he attended a ceremony marking the end of World War One. His comments were confirmed by a spokesman in Ottawa. “There is a delicate domestic context that we respect which is why I don’t want to say any more about that, but I will remind people Canada is a welcoming country,” he added.
While AFP said the discussions were about potentially offering Bibi and her family asylum, this was not confirmed by the spokesman in Ottawa.