Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti has been assassinated in a firing incident in Islamabad. Unknown assailants shot the minister when he was leaving from his house in Sector I-8. He was rushed to the hospital. Hospital spokesman Dr Azmat ullah Qureshi confirmed that the minister succumbed to the injuries. Bhatti, a Christian, is a leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party. Last month, he told the BBC he will defy death threats he had received from Islamist militants over his efforts to reform Pakistan's blasphemy laws.