Pakistani minister killed

Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti has been shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car in broad daylight in the capital, Islamabad.



Police say he was travelling to work through a residential district when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets.



Bhatti, the cabinet's only Christian minister, had received death threats for urging reform to blasphemy laws.



In January, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who had also opposed the law, was shot dead by one of his bodyguards.



The blasphemy law carries a death sentence for anyone who insults Islam.

Critics say it has been used to persecute minority faiths.