Pakistan's Punjab governor shot dead by own Guard

Governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was gunned down, allegedly by one of his own security guards, here on Tuesday afternoon. The guard, who surrendered to the police soon after, is said to have been upset with Taseer for his support to a Christian woman charged with blasphemy. The police said assailant Malik Mumtaz Husain Qadri from the elite force of the Punjab Police, shot Taseer several times from close range as the Governor was getting into his car on a side lane of Kohsar Market, which is a favourite with foreigners based here. The Governor was rushed to a nearby polyclinic, but eyewitnesses said he was already dead. Doctors said he suffered nine bullet wounds. His body was later removed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences as the polyclinic did not have a morgue.