By Adnkronos International, Rome Sept. 14--''Terrorist movements" like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are at least partly to blame for recent violent attacks that have claimed the lives of Christians in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti, the country's minister of minority rights, who is a Catholic, told reporters in Rome on Tuesday.
"The responsibility for violence against ethnic and religious minorities is connected to independence movements and foreign terrorist groups like the Taliban," Bhatti said.
"These are groups that are trying to destroy the domestic balance" of Pakistan.
Two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous pamphlet critical of the Prophet Mohammed were shot dead in July outside a court in eastern Pakistan.
In August 2009, eight Christians were burned alive after being accused of blasphemy, while two people, including a policeman, were injured late Sunday in a bomb blast at a Christian church near Mardan in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkh.
Sectarian assaults have especially targeted Pakistan's minority Shia Muslims. Earlier this month, more than 70 people were killed during a suicide bombing in the western city of Quetta at a Shia rally.
Of the 95 percent of Pakistanis that are Muslim, 75 percent are Sunni and 20 percent Shia, according to the Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book.
The remaining 5 percent are mainly Christians and Hindus.
Bhatti has been in Rome meeting with Italian government officials about aid to Pakistan in the wake of devastating floods that killed around 1,800 people and affected another 21 million.
Following a meeting with Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini on Monday, Frattini announced that his government would present a resolution to the United Nations that protects the rights of Pakistan's religious minorities.
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010 5:57 PM IStockAnalysis
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