Pakistan summons French ambassador to condemn 'Islamophobic' campaign

(Islamabad) Pakistan has summoned France's ambassador in Islamabad, the foreign office said on Monday, a day after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said French President Emmanuel Macron had "attacked Islam".

The foreign office spokesman confirmed to Reuters that the French ambassador had been summoned and shared a statement from his office which said "Pakistan condemns systematic Islamophobic campaign under the garb of freedom of expression".

Khan's comments came after Macron paid tribute to a French history teacher beheaded by an Islamist radical who wanted to avenge the use of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also called on Facebook to ban Islamophobic content on its platform, warning of a spike in radicalisation amongst Muslims, hours after he hit out at the French president for "attacking Islam".

Khan, in an open letter posted on Twitter on Sunday, said "growing Islamophobia" was encouraging extremism and violence worldwide, especially through social media platforms such as Facebook.

"I would ask you to place a similar ban on Islamophobia and hate against Islam for Facebook that you have put in place for the Holocaust," Khan said.