An alliance of Pakistan's non-Muslim minority communities...

An alliance of Pakistan's non-Muslim minority communities urged the military government to repeal a controversial blasphemy law they say is being used against them to settle personal scores.
The call comes a week after a mob stoned a man accused of blasphemy to death on the call of a cleric in the central Punjab province.
The newly formed All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) also asked the government to form a judicial commission to review the cases of people wrongly accused of blaspheming Islam's Prophet Mohammad.
"We cannot even think of insulting any prophet, no matter of which religion, but people here are misusing the blasphemy law," APMA chairman Shahbaz Bhatti told a news conference.
The law prescribes the death penalty for people insulting Mohammad and other prophets and holy books. Although the courts have handed down the death penalty in some cases, the sentences have not been carried out.
The minorities have long been demanding the repeal of the controversial blasphemy law, enforced by former military ruler General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1985.
Several Christians and Muslims, accused of blasphemy, have been killed by religious fanatics before or during their trials. Among them was a Christian boy, Iqbal Masih, who was shot dead by unknown gunmen as police escorted him to court in 1997.
Police arrest people accused of blasphemy before any inquiries.