Malala 'backs reversing college name change'

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Shot teenage Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai has backed reversing a decision to rename a girls college in her honour after students said the move could endanger them, an official said on Friday.

Around 150 students boycotted classes and tore up pictures of Malala in protest last week at the renaming of their Government Girls Degree College Saidu Sharif after the 15-year-old, saying the move would make them a target for militants.

Malala was shot on her school bus in northwestern Swat in October by Taliban gunmen for the "crime" of promoting girls' education, but survived the murder attempt and is now recovering in hospital in Britain.

The top local government official in Swat, Kamran Rehman, said he had spoken Monday by phone to Malala, whose story made headlines around the world and prompted the UN to to observe a "global day of action" for her last month.