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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The husband of a Pakistani Christian acquitted after eight years on death row for blasphemy appealed to President Trump to seek refuge, citing a danger to the family's life.
Ashiq Masih, the husband of Asia Bibi, whose case outraged Christians around the world and was a source of division in Pakistan, also appealed to Britain and Canada.
The call came as police said they arrested more than 150 people for arson, vandalism and violence during protests after Ms. Bibi's acquittal. A senior police officer, Nayab Haider, said on Sunday that police were using a video to identify other people involved in bombings, burning property and vehicles, and blocking highways, the Associated Press said.
The Islamist Tehreek-e-Labaik party blocked for three days the main roads of Pakistan's major cities, calling for the assassination of Supreme Court judges who acquitted Ms. Bibi on Wednesday, and appointing Prime Minister Imran Khan and the main enemies of Islam in the country's army.
Tehreek-e-Labaik canceled the protests on Friday night after entering into an agreement with the government that could lead the authorities to ask Ms. Bibi to appear on an "exit checklist" preventing her from leaving the country and to open a review of the verdict.
"I ask the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to help us out of Pakistan," Masih said in a video recorded by the British Pakistani Christian Association and seen by Reuters.
"I also ask the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to help us," he said. "I also ask the Prime Minister of Canada." He also asked for help on behalf of his brother, Joseph Nadeem, who helped Ms. Bibi's case.
The US Embassy and the High Commissions of the United Kingdom and Canada in Islamabad did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the video.
On Saturday, Ms. Bibi's lawyer, Saiful Mulook, told Reuters that he had left Pakistan, fearing for his life and the safety of his family.
Ms. Bibi was found guilty of blasphemy in 2010 after being accused of making disparaging remarks about Islam when neighbors objected that she was drinking water because they were not Muslims. She denied committing a blasphemy.
His case attracted the attention of Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province. He was murdered by his bodyguard in 2011 after a public campaign to save Ms. Bibi's life and change the blasphemy laws – an action that angered her bodyguard. Tehreek-e-Labaik was created as a result of a movement to support the murderer of Mr. Taseer, who was hanged in 2016.
Federal Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was also killed after demanding the release of Ms. Bibi.
Ms. Bibi's whereabouts are unknown, but Tehreek-e-Labaik has warned the authorities not to remove her from the country.
"There will be a war if they send Asia out of the country," party leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi said after signing the deal with the government.
The Islamist parties characterized Bibi's release by the fact that the Pakistani government was yielding to Western demands.
