VATICAN CITY (Agencies) - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday urged Pakistan to scrap a blasphemy law after the murder of the governor of Punjab, saying the legislation was a pretext for acts of injustice and violence. I once more encourage the leaders of that country to take the necessary steps to abrogate that law, he said. The tragic murder of the governor of Punjab shows the urgent need to make progress in this direction, he added. Speaking in his annual address to diplomats, the pope said the Pakistani law was a pretext for violence against religious minorities. The pope, who has used many of his addresses in recent weeks to demand religious freedom, renewed his condemnation of attacks on churches that left dozens dead in Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria. He also called for called for religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, where Christians cannot worship in public, and communist China, which forces Catholics to join an official church.