Asia Bibi has not left Pakistan, authorities say

Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi has been released from prison but has not left the country, the Pakistan Foreign Office said Thursday.

“She is still in Pakistan,” foreign office spokesman Muhammad Faisal told dpa, rejecting reports that the woman at the centre of a blasphemy case had left the country overnight.

Bibi was released from the women’s jail in Punjab province's Multan late Wednesday amid tight security, a week after the supreme court suspended her death sentence.

“The government has violated the agreement by releasing Asia Bibi,” said Zubair Kasuri, a spokesman for the Islamist group Tehreek-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

“We are having a meeting to discuss our future course of action,” Kasuri added.

It is not clear if Bibi has been reunited with her family members who are in hiding due to security concerns, or where she will go. Reports suggested she was being transferred to a secure location.

Bibi was sentenced to death by a district court in 2010 for allegedly committing blasphemy in a row with Muslim women while working on a farm.

A supreme court tribunal led by chief justice Saqib Nisar ordered her immediate release on October 31.

The judgement triggered protest rallies in several cities for three days.

The TLP called off its protests after the government agreed to not oppose a review petition and to take steps to "bar Bibi from leaving the country."

Bibi's lawyer, Saiful Malook, has left the country amid safety fears.