11 January 2011 Last updated at 12:10 ET

Benazir son Bilawal condemns support for Taseer killer

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari assured Christians and other minorities in Pakistan that they would be defended

The son of murdered Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto has condemned those who praised the assassination of Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer.

Mr Taseer was killed a week ago by one of his bodyguards for supporting proposed reforms to the blasphemy law.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said those supporting the killer were "the real blasphemers".

Meanwhile, the government has announced that Sardar Latif Khosa, a senior lawyer, will replace Mr Taseer.

Mr Khosa is a senior member of Mr Taseer's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was a senator from 2003 to 2008.

He later served as attorney general but had to resign amid corruption allegations by the opposition and friction within the law ministry.

He also represented Ms Bhutto and her husband Asif Zardari in various corruption cases against them in the courts.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that Mr Khosa is a diehard PPP loyalist and a tough bargainer - and it remains to be seen how the PML-N party, which rules Punjab, will react to his appointment.

Mr Taseer was a staunch critic of the PML-N government and was never shy of expressing his views publicly.

'Covert blasphemers'

Mr Bhutto Zardari, whose father is Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, railed against those who praised Governor Taseer's assassination as he addressed mourners at the Pakistan High Commission in London on Monday evening.

"Those who attack my religion, specially those who corrupt its peaceful message, you are what I call covert blasphemers and you will be defeated," he said, reports news agency AFP.

"This will be our jihad," he added.

Mr Bhutto Zardari assured Christians and other minorities in Pakistan that they would be protected.

"We will defend you. For those who wish to harm you for a crime you did not commit, they will have to go through me first," he said.

Mr Taseer's assassination last Tuesday has exposed the deep division within Pakistan's society.

At his first court appearance in Islamabad last week, the accused, Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri, was showered with rose petals by sympathisers, including a number of lawyers. He confessed to the murder in a Rawalpindi court appearance on Monday.

On Sunday up to 50,000 people held a rally in support of the blasphemy law in the city of Karachi.

'Clash of civilisation'

Meanwhile, the Pope's statement calling for a repeal of the controversial law has drawn a strong reaction from the Islamists.

Pope Benedict made his remarks in a traditional address to ambassadors at the Vatican

The Jamaat-i-Islami party's Liaquat Baloch said it was "open interference in Pakistan's internal and religious affairs".

"The Pope's statement is an open invitation for clash of civilisations and a bid to plunge the entire world into a deadly war," Pakistan's official news agency APP quoted Mr Baloch as saying.

The Pope made his remarks in a new year address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican.

Pakistan's blasphemy law returned to the spotlight in November when Christian woman Asia Bibi was sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. She denies the charge.

Mr Taseer angered hardline clerics by visiting her in jail and by supporting proposed reforms to the legislation.

His alleged assassin Qadri said he had been angered by Mr Taseer's stance over the blasphemy laws.