The French embassy in Pakistan on has urged French nationals and companies to temporarily leave the country, after violent anti-France protests took over large parts of the country this week.
In an e-mail addressed to French citizens, the Embassy said there have been serious threats to French interests in Pakistan and that departures will be carried out by existing commercial airlines.
The move came a day after the Pakistani interior ministry said it would outlaw the Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan which is a hardline Islamist group responsible for recent anti-French protests across the country.
The TLP has been demanding that the Pakistani government expel the French ambassador and endorse a boycott of French products due to Charlie Hebdo’s republishing of the Prophet Mohamed cartoons last year.
Clashes erupted on Tuesday between TLP supporters and police officers after the group’s leader, Saad Rizvi, was detained hours after encouraging thousands of his supporters to take to the streets in cities across Pakistan.
There have been Anti-French sentiment in Pakistan for months since the government of President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Charlie Hebdo’s right to republish the cartoons, considered blasphemous by many Muslims.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, with laws which allow for the death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures.
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