Fake images show Aasia Bibi leaving Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Nov 12 (AP): The Pakistani government, already struggling with a crisis surrounding Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy charges after eight years on death row, now has to deal with "fake" images on social media purporting to show her leaving the country or out of Pakistan.

Although it was unclear who was behind the images, which prompted death threats to a lawmaker shown in one photograph, it was likely they were intended to whip up radical religious fervor over Bibi's case.

Radical Islamists have blocked Bibi's freedom and demanded that she be publicly executed. They've also filed a petition to repeal her Supreme Court acquittal. The government says Bibi remains in Pakistan, at a secret location for her own protection, until the review process is finished.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned radical religious groups against using her plight to further their political aims with street protests.

He has defended the Supreme Court judges who on Oct. 21 acquitted the 54-year old mother of five of blasphemy charges but has also acquiesced to Islamists that the acquittal be reviewed in an appeal process.