Still no bail for Pakistan girl accused of 'blasphemy'

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A young Pakistani Christian girl accused of blasphemy in a case that has prompted international concern will stay in jail until at least Friday, after a bail hearing on Monday was adjourned.

Rimsha has been in custody since being arrested in a poor Islamabad suburb two and a half weeks ago, accused of burning papers containing verses from the Quran, in breach of Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws.

Judge Muhammad Azam Khan adjourned the case until Sept 7 because of a lawyers' strike, following a request from the lawyer for Rimsha's neighbour Hammad Malik, who filed the original complaint against her.

Police on Saturday arrested Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the imam of the mosque in Rimsha's area who first submitted the burnt papers as evidence against her, after his deputy told the police that he had tampered with the evidence.