4 January 2011Last updated at 19:33

In pictures: Salman Taseer assassinated in Islamabad

PPP supporters move the body of Salman Taseer from an ambulance in Islamabad

One of the most senior political figures in Pakistan - the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer - has been shot and killed in Islamabad by his bodyguard.

A policeman signals to the media to keep away from the site where Salman Taseer was shot in Islamabad

Mr Taseer, a member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was getting into his car at the busy Kohsar Market when the Elite Force commando fired several shots at close range.

The suspect, a man identified as Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri, is driven away by police after the killing

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the guard had confessed that he had killed Mr Taseer because of the governor's opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.

Salman Taseer (right) at a prison in Punjab province with the Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy, Asia Bibi (20 November 2010)

Mr Taseer had recently called for a Christian woman, sentenced to death for blasphemy, to be pardoned.

The daughter of Salman Taseer (R) and an unidentified relative grieve at the hospital in Islamabad

Friends of the governor say he knew Mr Taseer was risking his life by speaking out, but he pledged to keep fighting the blasphemy law. His daughter was one of those who gathered at the hospital in Islamabad where his body was taken.

PPP supporters protest against the killing of Salman Taseer outside a hospital in Islamabad

The BBC’s correspondent in Islamabad says the outspoken and liberal governor was one of Pakistan's best known politicians.

Police take samples of blood at the scene of the assassination in Islamabad

It is the most high profile assassination in Pakistan since the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the PPP's leader, in 2007.

A PPP supporter shouts slogans against the killing of Salman Taseer in Islamabad

The government has declared three days of national mourning and appealed for calm.

However, dozens of PPP supporters have already taken to streets in Lahore and elsewhere, in some cases burning tyres and blocking traffic in protest at the murder.

South Asia

In pictures: Salman Taseer assassinated in Islamabad

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