Islamabad (dpa) – Police in Pakistan on Monday arrested leader of an influential Islamic group after he demanded the government expel the French ambassador over depictions of the Muslim prophet Mohammed displayed in France last year.
Saad Rizvi, head of far right Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) that supports the country’s controversial blasphemy laws, was arrested in the city of Lahore, police official Ahmed Ali said. His arrest triggered violent protests by his supporters.
The government promised to discuss the expulsion in November when thousands of TLP activists blocked one of the major entrances into capital Islamabad, in protests against the cartoons.
Rizvi, who became the group’s leader after the sudden death of his father in November, on Sunday threatened to hold protests renewed protests if the French envoy was not expelled by April 20.
Thousands of TLP activists fanned out in the streets across Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi, blocking roads and putting vehicles and shops on fire.
Protesters have blocked the highway that links Lahore with Islamabad and were clashing with police at several places, official Niaz Ali said.
The caricatures were first published in the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015, causing protests.
Anti-France protests erupted in some parts of the Muslim world once more last year after French President Emmanuel Macron defended the right to publish cartoons, including those deemed offensive, in late October.
Macron’s comments came after a school teacher was killed by an Islamist for showing caricatures of Mohammed, originally published in Charlie Hebdo, during a lesson on freedom of expression.
Any depiction of Mohammed is forbidden in Islam and is deemed offensive by Muslims.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan had said “the rising tides of Islamophobia” in Europe and ridicule of prophet Mohammed bred extremism among Muslim youths.