Mr. Qadri also repeated his admission that he had killed Mr. Taseer over his support for changes to the country’s strict blasphemy law, according to Mr. Joya, a superintendent of the Islamabad police. Mr. Qadri expanded on his motivation, Mr. Joya said, saying that he was inspired by “the speeches and sermons of Dawat-e-Islami,” referring to a religious group based in the southern port city of Karachi that is active throughout the country. At a huge rally in Karachi on Sunday, Mr. Qadri was hailed as a hero by religious parties.
Mr. Joya said the police were now looking for two clerics, Qari Hanif and Ishtiaq Shah, who run a religious school in Rawalpindi and are believed to have instigated Mr. Qadri.
Dawat-e-Islami claims to be active in 66 countries and to organize the world’s largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj in the southern Punjab city of Multan. The group, which calls itself nonpolitical, owns a 24-hour television channel, organizes weekly meetings and has a dress code for its adherents: a green turban and white clothes.