Teen who burned Quran freed from jail

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- A young Christian girl accused of burning pages of Islam's holy book was freed Saturday from a jail near the capital where she had been held for three weeks, a Pakistani jail official said.

The release a day after a judge granted her bail is another step closer to ending an episode that has focused an uncomfortable spotlight on Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws, which can result in life in prison or even death for defendants. Many critics say the laws are misused to wage vendettas or target Pakistan's vulnerable minorities such as Christians.

The jail official, Mushtaq Awan, said the girl left the prison in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad, amid tight security.

An Associated Press reporter on the scene said the girl was taken from the prison in an armored vehicle and whisked to a waiting helicopter while covered with a sheet to protect her identity.

A Muslim cleric from her neighborhood was arrested last week for planting evidence to incriminate the girl, an about-face in a case that has drawn strong international condemnation.

Her lawyers say they will now push to have the case against her thrown out entirely.

The girl's release came a day after a judge in Islamabad granted bail to the mentally challenged girl, a move hailed by the human right activists and representatives of Pakistan's minority Christian community.

The girl, who medical officials say is 14, was arrested Aug. 16, after hundreds of Muslims surrounded her house and accused her of burning pages from the Quran, an act punishable by life in prison. Her lawyer has denied the allegation.

But in a sudden turnaround, police arrested a cleric after a follower from his mosque accused him of stashing pages of a Quran in the girl's bag to make it seem as if she burned them. He allegedly planted the evidence to push Christians out of the neighborhood and is now being investigated for blasphemy himself. He has denied the allegation.

The arrest was applauded as a rare occurrence when blasphemy accusers are held responsible for false claims.