A/58/296 Nigeria 80. On 11 April 2003, the Special Rapporteur sent the Government of Nigeria a communication concerning the religious violence which had allegedly occurred in the town of Kaduna around 20 November 2002, after the holding of the Miss World pageant in that country. This violence, which had reportedly left about 100 dead and over 500 wounded, had followed the publication of a newspaper article stating that, if the prophet Mohammed had been alive, he would probably have chosen to marry one of the 92 contestants. At least 22 churches and 8 mosques were said to have been destroyed during these events. 81. In addition, Reverend Bitrus Manjang of the Church of Christ in Nigeria was reportedly gunned down along with his son, his daughter-in-law and a six-month-old child in front of his home in Rim, Plateau State. 82. By letter dated 8 May 2003, the Special Rapporteur drew attention to the many incidents of inter-faith violence reported since 2001 in Plateau State. In one such incident, 22 villagers were reportedly killed and 28 disappeared following an attack on the town of Kadarko on 18 March 2003. Two of the attackers killed by the police were reportedly identified as soldiers on active duty and a police officer stated that an armoured vehicle assigned to protect the area took sides with the attackers. 83. The Special Rapporteur stresses the serious nature of these allegations, notes that this was not the first communication concerning these events and regrets that the Government has still not replied to his communications. Pakistan 84. In a message dated 11 April 2003, the Special Rapporteur sent the Government of Pakistan a communication concerning the following incidents: – On 4 November 2002, Mohammed Asghar was reportedly tortured by villagers and subsequently shot by a police officer for burning pages of the Koran; – On 25 September 2002, two armed men reportedly entered the premises of a Christian charitable organization (the Peace and Justice Institute) and killed seven people before escaping; – On 9 August 2002, unidentified attackers reportedly hurled grenades into the chapel of a Christian missionary hospital in Taxila, killing three nurses and wounding about 20 other people; – On 5 August 2002, an armed attack on a missionary school for foreign students reportedly left at least six dead and four wounded; – On 18 July 2002, a Lahore court fined Kenneth Anwar 500,000 rupees and sentenced him to death for blasphemy; Wajih-ul-Hassan was also sentenced to death for blasphemy on 27 July 2002 in Lahore, as was Kingri Masih on 29 June 2002 in Faisalabad; – On 25 December 2002, two masked men are said to have thrown an explosive device into a Presbyterian church in Chianwali during a children’s Christmas service. Three children, Najma, Shumaila and Razia, were reportedly killed and 16 other children and adults were wounded. 14