Assassination of Punjab Governor 'deadly warning to Pakistan liberals'

Salman Taseer, the Pakistani politician who has been assassinated by his own bodyguard in the nation's capital, Islamabad, was a man with many enemies. In the political sphere of the country's most populous province, Punjab, Taseer, a wealthy industrialist and businessman, was characterised by many as the "attack dog" of Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president. Zardari, also co-chairperson of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), appointed Taseer as governor of Punjab in 2008, in a province where the largest opposition party, the PML-N, was in power. In the following years, Taseer used the largely ceremonial position to publicly criticise the PML-N's leadership, often taking shots at Nawaz Sharif, the party leader, and Shahbaz Sharif, the Punjab chief minister and brother to Nawaz. Tensions remained consistently high, and in 2009, Taseer was made head of the provincial government after Zardari imposed "governor rule" in the province in a bid to contain a growing protest movement against his government. The imposition left the provincial assembly temporarily suspended, and put power directly in the hands of the governor. Ultimately, however, it was not Taseer's brash, often confrontational, approach to politics that led to his death on Tuesday.