Protest as Mumtaz Qadri in court over Taseer death

Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri has become a hero to many in Pakistan

The self-confessed assassin of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer has appeared in court as dozens of his supporters demonstrated outside.

Mumtaz Qadri, 26, was brought for a procedural hearing at an anti-terrorism court in a Rawalpindi city jail.

He has admitted gunning down Mr Taseer earlier this month in Islamabad, after the governor backed reforms to controversial blasphemy laws.

Qadri has been hailed as a hero by many in Pakistan.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan, who was outside the court in Rawalpindi's main Adiala jail, says more than 50 Qadri supporters turned up, waving placards and shouting slogans.

'Solitary confinement'

He says the demonstrators were mainly supporters of a Sunni Muslim cleric, Qari Hanif, whom police have been investigating on suspicion of inciting violence on Governor Taseer.

It is understood that Qadri told police he had been inspired to attack Mr Taseer after attending a religious gathering held by Mr Hanif, who heads a little-known religious party, Shabab-e-Islami.

The protesters were joined by students from a nearby agricultural institute.

Our correspondent says the demonstration outside the jail was not big, compared with those at previous court appearances by Mr Qadri, when he was mobbed and showered with petals.

But it was an attempt by his supporters to make their presence felt, he says.

Only defence lawyers, the judge and Qadri were present at Monday's pre-trial hearing when a police report on the case was submitted.

Members of the media and the public were excluded from the court.

Outside the jail, Qadri's lawyer Tariq Dhamial said his client was being kept in solitary confinement, and his health was suffering.

He said they had applied for Qadri's family to be allowed to visit him.

Qadri is next due in court on 1 February, when an indictment is expected to be served.

Qadri pleaded guilty to Governor Taseer's murder through a confessional statement earlier this month.

He was acting as a bodyguard for the politician when he riddled him with bullets in broad daylight on 4 January.

Pakistan's blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since a Christian mother-of-five, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death in November.

She denies insulting the Prophet Muhammad in her Punjab village in June 2009.

Critics of Pakistan's blasphemy law say it has been used to persecute minority faiths in Pakistan, and is sometimes exploited for grudges.

Earlier this month two men from Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority were convicted under the law.

The father and son had been found guilty of tearing down a poster of a gathering to mark the Prophet Muhammad's birthday.

They were handed a life term, instead of the law's mandatory death sentence.