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Traders offer reward for Rushdie beheading
JUN 22 - Traders in Islamabad on Thursday announced a reward of Rs 10 million ($165,000) for anyone who beheaded Salman Rushdie following Britain�s decision to award the novelist a knighthood. The secretary general of the Islamabad traders association, Ajmal Baloch, also called on Islamic countries to boycott British products.

Bin Laden 'Knighted'

JUN 21 - Osama bin Laden has been awarded the highest Islamic honor as a reaction to the United Kingdom knighting Salman Rushdie.

The Ulema Council, a leading group of Islamic scholars in Pakistan with a purported membership of 2,000, gave a tit-for-tat recognition to bin Laden the title of Saifullah, meaning "sword of God," reported Stratfor in its Intelligence Summary today.

Rushdie's novel, "The Satanic Verses" published in 1988, outraged many Muslims around the world because of blasphemous remarks against the Prophet Mohammad and ridiculing the Koran.

"If a blasphemer can be given the title Sir' by the West despite the fact he's hurt the feelings of Muslims, then a mujahid who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British must be given the lofty title of Islam, Saifullah," the council's chairman, Tahir Ashrafi, told Reuters.

Bin Laden was one of many Arabs who helped Afghan mujahideen battle Soviet invaders in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Pakistan and Iran have protested against the knighthood awarded by Britain's Queen Elizabeth and small demonstrations have been held in various parts of Pakistan and in Malaysia.

On Monday, Pakistan's parliament adopted a resolution condemning the knighthood and said Britain should withdraw it.

Britain has defended the knighthood, stressing the importance of free speech and saying that it was part of a trend of honoring Muslims in the British community.

Rushdie was born to Muslim parents in India, prompting Muslims to accuse him of apostasy after "The Satanic Verses" was published.

The late Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa religious edict against Rushdie in 1989 calling for his death and forcing him into hiding for nine years.

In 1998 Iran's government formally distanced itself from the fatwa issued by Khomeini, but hardline groups in Iran regularly renew the call for his killing, saying Khomeini's fatwa is irrevocable.

On Thursday, the speaker of the Punjab provincial assembly said blasphemers should be killed while Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of Pakistan's ruling party, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair was "personally and mentally against Islam."

Afghanistan's Taliban militant group also urged a strong Islamic response to the knighthood.

"We hope that Muslims and Islamic societies show a strong and serious response ... and to force the British government to apologize to Muslims and retract this title," the group said in a statement posted on the Internet on Thursday.

Is Rushdie Knighthood Becoming a Nightmare?

BY DESPARDES STAFF

JUN 20 - Never possibly has a knighthood provoked such controversy. After Salman Rushdie was knighted, a bounty of 160, 000 dollars has been placed on his head by an Iranian group.

This has prompted the authorities to review the security of the controversial India-born author.

The Scotland Yard is reviewing security around Rushdie, who turned 60 on Wednesday, and is all set to get round the clock police protection.

The bounty was offered by the Tehran-based hardliners 'The Organization To Commemorate The Martyrs Of The Muslim World'.

It said it would pay an 160,000 dollars reward for anyone 'who was able to execute the apostate Salman Rushdie'.

However, Buckingham palace has refused to comment on the growing protests over the decision to award Salman Rushdie.

The Muslim Council of Britain, the main umbrella organization for Islamic groups in the country, has condemned the knighthood as provocation but urged restraint from ordinary Muslims.

MMA announces countrywide strike on Friday against Rushdie knighthood
LAHORE, JUN 20 (PPI): Muttehida Majlis-e-Amal has announced countrywide strike on Friday against conferring knighthood to Salman Rushdie by the Briitish government. The central leaders of MMA Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Shah Uns Noorani, Prof. Sajjid Meer, Allama Syed Sajjid Ali Naqvi, Liaquat Baloch, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor and others in a joint statement on Wednesday said the Muslims of entire world had condemned Salman Rushdie for his blasphemous book but the West kept mum, gave him asylum and now the knighthood.

Muslims hold new protests against Rushdie knighthood
ISLAMABAD, June 20 (AFP) - Anger mounted in the Muslim world Wednesday over Britain's knighthood for novelist Salman Rushdie, with protests spreading to Malaysia for the first time and fresh demonstrations in Pakistan. In Kuala Lumpur, the Pan-Malaysia Islamic party, shouted �Go to hell Britain!; Go to hell Rushdie!�outside the British High Commission. They handed a one-page memorandum to the British envoy during the rare half-hour demonstration, which was watched by police with riot shields and helmets.

Burqa-clad Pakistani women rally against Rushdie
ISLAMABAD, June 20 (AFP) - Hundreds of women wearing all-covering Burqas protested in front of Pakistan's parliament on Wednesday against Britain's award of a knighthood to novelist Salman Rushdie. The female activists from Islamic parties waved flags and banners, blocked the road in front of the parliament building, and listened to speeches delivered through loudhailers by female hardliners and clerics. �He is no writer, why has he been given such a rare title? This is really a move against Muslims,� said Samia Raheel Qazi, an MP and head of the women's wing of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party. In Karachi some 300 protesters again torched an effigy of Rushdie, chanted �Death to Rushdie� and �Down with the Queen, down with Britain� slogans, and demanded that Pakistan sever diplomatic ties with London. Two other smaller protests were also held in Karachi. Earlier more than 150 traders gathered in Karachi�s busy commercial district where they burned a British flag. Another rally in Multan condemned the award and torched an effigy of Rushdie. Jamiat Ulema Islam party staged a separate rally in the city against the award.

Britain won't apologize for Rushdie honor: minister
LONDON, June 20 (AFP) -Britain will not apologize for giving writer Salman Rushdie a knighthood, despite protests in the Muslim world, Home Secretary John Reid said Wednesday. He said the government stood by the award.

Egyptian parliament condemns Rushdie knighthood
CAIRO, June 20 (AFP) - The Egyptian parliament on Wednesday condemned the award of a knighthood to writer Salman Rushdie, author of the �Satanic Verses�, describing it as a worse error than the cartoons of the holy Prophet Mohammed whose publication sparked riots. �To honor someone who has offended the Muslim religion is a bigger error still than the publication of caricatures attacking the Prophet Mohammed,� said parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorur. In a statement, Egypt's parliamentary Arab Affairs Committee, added its criticism: �To honor someone who has become famous because of his hostility to Islam is a rejection of all diplomatic principles and respect for religions.�

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