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Pakistan minister who oversees Chinese projects recovering after assassination attempt

Pakistani Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal wounded in an apparent assassination attempt by a gunman linked to a new ultra-religious Muslim party – an incident likely to raise tensions before an election expected in late July

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Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan’s interior minister is transported to a hospital after he was shot. Photo: EPA

Pakistan’s interior minister was recovering in hospital Monday after being shot in a suspected assassination possibly linked to blasphemy, with the attack seen as a “bad omen” for nationwide elections.

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Ahsan Iqbal, 59, was shot in the right arm as he prepared to leave a public meeting in his constituency in Punjab province late Sunday.

A man identified by police only as “Abid” and said to be in his early 20s was wrestled to the ground by police and bystanders as he was preparing to fire a second shot.

He has been taken in to custody.

An initial report on the shooting by a local administrator, the deputy commissioner of Narowal district, seen by Reuters, said the gunman “showed his affiliation” to Tehreek-e-Labaik.
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The party calls for the aggressive enforcement of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which can carry the death penalty.

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