Pakistan issues 'last warning' to protesters blocking road

Hundreds of supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party have been blocking the route into Islamabad for nearly 10 days, demanding the minister of law be sacked."You all are being given a last warning," the Islamabad deputy commissioner said in the order.A court had already ordered the party to end the protest, the order added. "After this final announcement, you all are being warned to end the illegal sit-in immediately."Tehreek-e-Labaik blames the minister, Zahid Hamid, for changes to an electoral oath that it says amount to blasphemy. The government puts the issue down to a clerical error.A spokesman for the Labaik party, Ejaz Ashrafi, said the group would not comply with the deputy commissioner's ultimatum."We're not moving," he told Reuters by phone from the sit-in.Pakistan's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal appealed to the protesters to end the sit-in before a delegation of Chinese investors arrived in Islamabad on Monday, making a last offer to negotiate on their demands.But he added: "If some group tries to hold the state hostage, that behaviour will not be tolerated."A government official, Khalid Abbasi, said protesters on the road were carrying rods and sticks. Since they were given the warning, he said, hundreds more party workers had joined the sit-in.The government has blocked several roads with shipping containers in an effort to corral the protesters, causing hours-long traffic jams in and around the capital.