UPDATE - Pakistan: Christian woman Asiya Bibi leaves country

ADDS STATEMENT FROM LAWYER

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistani Christian woman Asiya Bibi, who spent eight years on death row in a blasphemy case before she was acquitted by the top court last year, has left the country, an official source said.

Bibi left the country on Wednesday morning from an undisclosed location where she had been kept due to fears for her safety, a senior officer at the Ministry of Interior told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

"Her family is already settled in Canada and now there was no bar on Asiya to join her family after the Supreme Court verdict [in her favor] last year," the officer added.

Bibi's lawyer Saif-ul-Malook also confirmed she had left the country.

"Yes she left Pakistan and arrived in Canada where other members of her family are also living," he told Anadolu Agency over the phone.

The Foreign Ministry has not yet issued an official statement on her departure.

Bibi's departure could mark the end of a nine-year ordeal she faced after she was accused of insulting Prophet Muhammad based on dubious claims.

The case also led to the assassination of a provincial governor, who spoke in favor of Bibi, by his bodyguard.

The farm laborer was sentenced to death by a lower court in 2010, but the sentence was later overturned by the Supreme Court in October of last year sparking countrywide protests by religious extremist groups.

A fire-brand leader who led the protests is currently in jail and facing a trial for inciting violence.

Blasphemy against Islam and Prophet Muhammad is a criminal offense that can carry the death penalty in Pakistan. While the state has never executed anyone under the law, mere allegations have stirred mass protests and violence.

Rights groups observe that the blasphemy law is often exploited to settle personal scores against religious minorities and should be annulled.