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Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani minister for minorities, was assassinated by unknown assailants as he was on the way to work.

The assassination came two months after a former governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was murdered. Both men were opponents of Pakistan's laws regarding blasphemy, which punish insults to Islam with the death penalty.

According to a report at The Blaze.com, Bhatti had received threats from both the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but had refused to stop defending the rights of Christians in Pakistan. "I will die to defend their rights," he said in a tape sent to the BBC.

The two assassinated politicians had been particularly active in defending a Christian woman sentenced to death.