France has advised French citizens to temporarily leave Pakistan and has warned of serious threats to French interests in the country, two diplomatic sources said on Thursday, following violent clashes there this week.
Thousands of Pakistani Islamists had clashed with police earlier this week to protest the arrest of their leader ahead of rallies denouncing French cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
For Muslims, the depictions of the prophet are blasphemous.
Diplomatic sources reported that an overnight message had been sent to French citizens and businesses following threats from Islamist hardline group Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) to target French interests.
Sources said the embassy sent a message to French residents in Pakistan recommending that French citizens leave the country and French companies close their activities temporarily “due to serious threats to French interests in Pakistan”.
Relations between Paris and Islamabad have deteriorated since late last year after President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to a French history teacher who was beheaded by an 18-year-old man of Chechen descent to show cartoon of the prophet in a class on free speech.
The images sparked anger and protests in the Muslim world, especially in Pakistan, and even saw a Pakistani minister force her to withdraw comments that Macron treated Muslims the way the Nazis had treated Jews in World War II.
Last year, TLP ended a similar protest against France only after the government signed an agreement accepting a boycott of French products and taking a step in parliament to oust the French ambassador. This week he had demanded the expulsion of the envoy.
Pakistan has said it would outlaw the group and the arrest of its leader this week sparked further protests against France.
“It is a serious situation and we know that in Pakistan things can increase rapidly,” said one diplomatic source.
The Pakistani embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to comments.
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