*TORONTO – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that hisgovernment was holding talks with Pakistan over potentially offering asylumto Aasia Bibi, a woman recently freed from prison after her blasphemyconviction was overturned.*
“We are in discussions with the Pakistani government,” Trudeau said in aninterview with AFP in Paris, where he was attending a peace conferenceorganised by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“There is a delicate domestic context that we respect which is why I don’twant to say any more about that, but I will remind people Canada is awelcoming country,” he said.
Bibi has been blocked from leaving Pakistan after the overturning of herconviction prompted a wave of protests by the religious groups.
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She has since been flown to a “safe place” in the country as severalgovernments have offered to grant her family asylum.
Her husband has appealed in particular to Britain, Canada and the UnitedStates, claiming that Bibi’s life would be in danger as long as she livedin Pakistan. – APP/AFP
