Pakistan’s government and an outlawed radical Islamist party reached an agreement to end a 10-day long, and at times deadly violent, rally calling for the closure of France’s embassy and the release of the party’s leader.

Neither foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi nor religious leader Mufti Muneebur Rehman, who took part in the talks, gave any details of the agreement at a news conference in the capital Islamabad.

Thousands of supporters of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party marched from Lahore on October 22 toward the capital Islamabad.

They demanded the expulsion of France’s envoy to Pakistan over publication of caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed in France.

The protest march saw supporters clash with police at several points along the way.

At least seven police officers and four demonstrators were killed.

“Details and positive results of the agreement will come before the nation in a week or so,” said Mr Rehman, who said he had the endorsement of TLP party leader Saad Rizvi.

The violence erupted a day after the government of prime minister Imran Khan said it would not accept the Islamists’ demand to close the French Embassy and expel the French envoy.

It was not immediately clear on Sunday when the party would end its rally.

Thousands of supporters halted their march in Wazirabad, about 115 miles from the capital on Friday after roads and bridges ahead of them were blocked.

Paramilitary rangers were deployed to stop the protesters from continuing toward the capital.

Sajid Saifi, TLP spokesman, said supporters were ready to “pack up” but were awaiting instructions from the party’s leadership.

He said he hoped party leader Mr Rizvi and all the supporters arrested in recent days would be released soon.

Besides demanding expulsion of the French ambassador, the TLP was also pressing for the release of its leader, Mr Rizvi, who was arrested last year for inciting supporters to stage an anti-France protest.

Mr Rizvi’s party started demanding the expulsion of a French envoy in October 2020 after French President Emmanuel Macron tried to defend caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed as freedom of expression.

Mr Macron’s comments came after a young Muslim beheaded a French school teacher who had shown the caricatures in class.

The images were republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial over the deadly 2015 attack against the publication for the original caricatures.

Mr Rizvi’s party gained prominence in Pakistan’s 2018 elections, campaigning on the single issue of defending the country’s blasphemy law, which calls for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam.

Demonstrations have been called around France in support of freedom of speech and to pay tribute to a history teacher who was beheaded near Paris after discussing caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed with his class.

Samuel Paty was decapitated on Friday by an 18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen refugee, who was then shot dead by police.

Political leaders, associations and unions will rally on Sunday afternoon in Paris and other major cities including Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes, Marseille, Lille and Bordeaux.

The gatherings come as French authorities said they have detained a 10th person following the horrific attack in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north-west of Paris.

French anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said an investigation for murder with a suspected terrorist motive has been opened.

At least four of those detained are family members of the attacker, who had been granted a 10-year residency in France as a refugee in March, was armed with a knife and an airsoft gun, which fires plastic pellets.

His half-sister joined the Islamic State group in Syria in 2014, Mr Ricard said. He did not give her name, and it is not clear where she is now.

The prosecutor said a text claiming responsibility and a photograph of the victim were found on the suspect’s phone.

He also confirmed that a Twitter account under the name Abdoulakh A belonged to the suspect. It posted a photo of the decapitated head minutes after the attack along with the message “I have executed one of the dogs from hell who dared to put Muhammad down”.

The attack has provoked global condemnation.

US President Donald Trump referred to the killing on Saturday night during a political rally in Janesville, Wisconsin.

“On behalf of the United States, I’d like to extend my really sincere condolences to a friend of mine, President (Emmanuel) Macron of France, where they just yesterday had a vicious, vicious Islamic terrorist attack – beheading an innocent teacher near Paris,” he said. “France is having a hard time and Macron’s a great guy.”

Read more: Suspect in French beheading horror was Chechen teenager

French President Emmanuel Macron has denounced what he called an “Islamist terrorist attack” against a history teacher decapitated in a Paris suburb.

The teacher had discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed with his class, authorities said. The suspected attacker was shot by police after Friday’s beheading.

The French anti-terrorism prosecutor opened an investigation concerning murder with a suspected terrorist motive, the prosecutor’s office said.

President Macron visited the school where the teacher worked in the town of Conflans-Saint-Honorine and met with staff after the killing.

An Associated Press reporter saw three ambulances arrive at the scene, and heavily armed police surrounding the area and police vans lining leafy nearby streets.

“One of our compatriots was murdered today because he taught… the freedom of expression, the freedom to believe or not believe,” President Macron said.

He said the attack should not divide France because that is what the extremists want.

“We must stand all together as citizens,” he said.

The gruesome killing of the teacher occurred in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine while the suspect was killed by police in adjoining Eragny.

A police official said the suspect, armed with a knife and an airsoft gun — which fires plastic pellets — was shot dead about 600 metres from where the male teacher was killed after he failed to respond to orders to put down his arms, and acted in a threatening manner.

The teacher had received threats after opening a discussion “for a debate” about the caricatures about 10 days ago, the police official told The Associated Press.

The parent of a student had filed a complaint against the teacher, another police official said, adding that the suspected killer did not have a child at the school. The suspect’s identity was not made public.

The suspect’s identity was not made public. French media reported that the suspect was an 18-year-old Chechen, born in Moscow. That information could not be immediately confirmed.

The two officials could not be named because they were not authorised to discuss ongoing investigations.

“We didn’t see this coming,” Conflans resident Remi Tell said on CNews TV station. He described the town as peaceful.

It was the second terrorism-related incident since the opening of an ongoing trial on the newsroom massacre in January 2015 at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after the publication of caricatures of the prophet of Islam.

As the trial opened, the paper republished caricatures of the prophet to underscore the right of freedom of expression. Exactly three weeks ago, a young man from Pakistan was arrested after stabbing, outside the newspaper’s former offices, two people who suffered non life-threatening injuries. The 18-year-old told police he was upset about the publication of the caricatures.

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