A Christian woman whose death penalty for blasphemy was overturned this week still cannot leave Pakistan because of a government deal to appease radical Islamists.
Hardliners have been staging widespread protests since Wednesday when the courts acquitted Asia Bibi of blasphemy charges going back a decade.
However, Pakistan's government has reportedly reached a deal with the Tehreek-i-Labaik (TLP) party, which orchestrated the protests, that prevents the mother of five from leaving the country for now.
According to the BBC, a court will decide on whether Bibi should be added to the country's no-fly list. If such a travel ban is implemented, it is not certain how long it would be in effect.
Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told the BBC, 'We had two options: either to use force, and when you use force people can be killed. That is not something a state should do... We tried negotiations and (in) negotiations you take something and you leave something.'
He added that the deal was not a permanent solution to the problem of extremists in Pakistan.
'We need to take steps against extremism, we need to take steps against such kind of violent protesters and we need to come up with a permanent solution,' he said.
'Right now this is not a cure. This is firefighting, what we are doing. The cure is the real thing and our government is committed to the cure.'
Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, a majority-Muslim country where Christians suffer severe persecution for their faith.
Two politicians who had spoken in Bibi's defence - minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti and Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer - were both assassinated in 2011.
Bibi was sentenced to death in 2010 after being accused of insulting Islam by her Muslim coworkers when she offered to share a cup of water.
Although she was acquitted this week, human rights groups have warned that she is not safe in Pakistan.
Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, Wilson Chowdhry, said it was 'incredulous' that no country had stepped forward to offer Bibi asylum.
He said her continued presence in Pakistan was only putting her life and that of others at risk.
'Asia Bibi is currently in a secure location awaiting release, but the ongoing violence makes it impossible to do so with any measure of safety,' he said.
'Asia Bibi and her entire family are in need of immediate asylum. She and her family have suffered enough, she just needs a country willing to cut through the bureaucracy,
'It would not do for her, after escaping hanging to die because of the tangle of red-tape.'
Open Doors UK is asking Christians around the world to pray for believers in Pakistan who fear reprisal attacks after the acquittal.
'This is a highly tense and threatening situation for the religious minorities, especially for Pakistani Christians, and there is fear of persecution of Christians and attack on their churches and other properties,' Open Doors partners shared.
