Islamists end anti-France stir after talks
PAKISTAN DOES NOT CONFIRM ACTION TO IMPOSE BOYCOTT OF FRENCH PRODUCTS OVER BLASPHEMY
A PAKISTANI Islamist party on Tuesday (17) called off an antiFrance demonstration on its third day, after securing the release of protesters arrested following clashes with police.
Pakistan has seen scattered protests since French president Emmanuel Macron defended the right to criticise Islam as part of freedom of speech, triggering anger across the Muslim world.
Up to 5,000 protesters last Sunday (15) had attempted to reach the capital Islamabad from the nearby city of Rawalpindi, but authorities blocked their path with shipping containers.
Protesters remained at the roadblock throughout Monday (16) and into Tuesday morning.
The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) which led the protest said it called off the demonstration after late night talks with the government, claiming officials had agreed to kick out the French ambassador and impose an official boycott of French products. “We are calling off our protests after the government signed an agreement that it will officially endorse boycotting French products,” Ejaz Ashrafi, a spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Labaik group, said by telephone.
But a senior government official who asked not to be named said the “government has no intention of cutting diplomatic ties with any country.”
He added the situation had been “handled accordingly” to ensure protesters left peacefully.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs would not give details about what it said were “successful talks” with the TLP, but the government released a statement ordering the release of all activists arrested over the past three days.
The French embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
Pakistani trade with France was valued at nearly $800 million in the last financial year, according to central bank data, with $422m worth of exports and imports valued at $356m.
Adam Weinstein, a fellow at the Quincy Institute think tank said it was unlikely the government would move to cut ties with France, but the episode had shown the TLP’s “growing power to mobilise without warning.”
The protests erupted after Macron defended France’s freedom of speech laws, in the wake of the killing of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Muslim prophet to his class.
All depictions of the Prophet are forbidden by Islam.
Phone services were restored late Monday after being suspended in Islamabad and Rawalpindi for two days, a common tactic used by authorities to prevent communication between protesters and leaders.