The authorities in Pakistan were bracing for the possibility of violence and escalating protests on Monday after the execution of the killer of Salmaan Taseer, a governor who had campaigned for changes in the country’s blasphemy laws.<br />Mr. Taseer’s assassin, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, was hanged at 4:30 a.m. on Monday at the Adiala Jail, a high-security prison in Rawalpindi, adjacent to Islamabad, the capital.<br />Security forces were put on high alert in major cities across the country.<br />Supporters had begun gathering to view Mr. Qadri’s body at his home in Rawalpindi.<br />By early afternoon, the expressway connecting Islamabad and Rawalpindi was blocked by protests.<br />In the eastern city of Lahore, large police contingents were deployed to thwart demonstrations.
