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France advises nationals to leave Pakistan amid anti-French protests

French nationals have been advised to leave Pakistan due to violent demonstrations after the arrest of the leader of a hardline political party calling for  France's ambassador to be expelled over his government's defence of the right to show cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

France has urged all its citizens in Pakistan to leave the country temporarily amid violent anti-French protests across the country, reports BBC News.

The country's embassy in Pakistan warned of "serious threats to French interests in Pakistan", saying protests were increasing nationwide.

Two police officers died this week in renewed clashes with protesters.

The protests were sparked months ago after France defended the right to show cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

In October last year, French President Emmanuel Macron strongly defended freedom of expression after the beheading of a teacher who showed such cartoons during a class discussion.

This prompted anger in parts of the Muslim world, including Pakistan, where there were calls for a boycott of French goods.

Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are widely regarded as taboo in Islam, and are considered highly offensive by Muslims.

The protests escalated this week after the Pakistani government arrested Saad Hussain Rizvi, leader of the hard-line political party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), which has called for the expulsion of the French ambassador.

Mr Rizvi's arrest, and a move by the Pakistani authorities to ban the TLP, brought thousands of the party's supporters into the streets in Pakistan to protest. Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon at the crowds.

Read more of this report from BBC News.