The US has called on Pakistan to swiftly investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the killing of a senior human rights lawyer who was shot dead for defending a blasphemy accused.
"We were deeply saddened by reports of the murder of Rashid Rehman, an attorney and human rights defender in Pakistan," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
Rashid Rehman, 50, a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, was shot at on May 7 in Lahore and later died at a hospital.
The senior lawyer had last month received death threats for representing a university professor accused of blasphemy under strict laws against defaming Islam.
"We encourage Pakistani authorities, as we have in similar cases in Pakistan and around the world, to swiftly investigate this crime and bring to justice those responsible," she said.
"We continue to coordinate and cooperate closely with Pakistani authorities," she added.
Rehman was the son of late diplomat Ashfaque Ahmed Khan, and nephew of HRCP Secretary-General I A Rehman.
Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law is often misused to settle personal scores and grudges and to persecute minorities, rights groups allege.
Lawyers defending blasphemy accused remain a target of extremists and fundamentalists.
