Pakistan, Islamists reach agreement to end violent rally

By ZARAR KHAN and BABAR DOGAR
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s government and an outlawed radical Islamist party have reached an agreement to end a 10-day long  — at times deadly violent — rally calling for the closure of France’s embassy and the release of the party’s leader. Neither Pakistan’s foreign minister nor a religious leader who took part in the talks gave any details of the agreement at a news conference in the capital Islamabad. Thousands of supporters of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party marched from Lahore on Oct. 22 toward the capital Islamabad. They demanded the expulsion of France’s envoy to Pakistan over publication of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in France.