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£80,000 reward to 'execute' Rushdie as knighthood row escalates
Last updated at 19:07pm on 19.06.07The international row over Salman Rushdie's knighthood escalated after Islamic extremists placed a £80,000 bounty on the writer's head.
The British Government expressed its "deep concern" over reported comments by one of Pakistan's ministers which suggested Rushdie's knighthood could justify suicide attacks.
The announcement comes amid continuing protests in Pakistan over the awarding of the honour to the controversial author.
Earlier in the day Pakistan's government summoned Britain's high commissioner in Islamabad for talks on the escalating row.
"This insulting, suspicious and improper act by the British government is an obvious example of fighting against Islam," Ebrahim Rahimpour, Foreign Ministry director for Western Europe, told British Ambassador Geoffrey Adams.
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Salman Rushdie with his wife Padma. Rushdie was awarded an OBE this weekend, but Pakistan has demanded it be withdrawn
Iranian conservatives attacked the Queen over Salman Rushdie's knighthood, with a top MP saying the British monarch lived in a dreamworld and a newspaper labelling her an "old crone".
"Salman Rushdie has turned into a hated corpse which cannot be resurrected by any action," Mohammad Reza Bahonar, first deputy speaker of Iran's parliament, said in an address to the house.
"The action by the British queen in knighting Salman Rushdie, the apostate, is an unwise one," he said, to loud cheers from MPs.
"The British monarch lives under this illusion that Britain is still a 19th century superpower and that bestowing titles is something still deemed important."
Hardline daily Jomhuri Eslami also launched a scathing attack on the queen, describing the monarch as an "old crone" whose action was a "grimace to the Islamic world".
"The question is what the old British crone sought by knighting Rushdie, to help him? Well, her act only shortens Rushdie's pathetic life," it added.
The daily also linked the award of the knighthood - which marked the queen's 81st birthday - to a controversial party at the British embassy on Thursday celebrating the same occasion.
Dozens of Islamist students protested against the party, hurling stones, eggs and paint filled bags outside the doors of the compound in southern Tehranand vented anger against Iranians who attended the event.
Tory MP Paul Goodman (Wycombe) accused ministers of failing to deal with incitements to terrorism in the UK and said Mr al-Haq's remarks were such an incitement.
"Although he's since sought partially to withdraw his remarks, no condemnation of them has been forthcoming to date from a higher level within the government of Pakistan," said Mr Goodman.
In London, Lord Ahmed, Britain's first Muslim peer, said he had been appalled by the award to a man he accused of having 'blood on his hands'.
In Pakistan, where effigies of the Queen and 59-year-old Rushdie were burned, a minister appeared to justify suicide bombings as a response to the knighthood.
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Flames and the fury: Pakistani Muslims torch a Union Flag during protests in Lahore yesterday
"This is an occasion for the world's 1.5billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," said Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, Pakistan's religious affairs minister.
"The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism," he told his country's parliament.
"If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so, unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
The parliament in Islamabad - supposedly a key ally in the war on terror - then backed a government-sponsored motion demanding an apology and the withdrawal of the honour from the The Satanic Verses author.
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Sworn enemies: Effigies of Rushdie and the Queen go up in flames
This isn't the first time that Salman Rushdie has his the headlines this year.
There has been much speculation that his three year marriage to Padma Lakshmi is in trouble.
Over the course of their relationship Rushdie and his 36-year-old wife have repeatedly denied claims that he is with for her looks while she is attracted to his wealth and fame.
Padma is a model and actress who has more recently been forging her own career as the host of reality show, Top Chef.
Four years ago the couple went to the trouble of releasing a statement denying Lakshmi found Rushdie "boring" or that he thought she wasn't "intellectually stimulating enough".
However rumours of an impending split have persisted.
As a backlash begins in the Muslim world against Rushdie's knighthood, same way as last year's furore over 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper.
There were violent protests throughout Europe and the Middle East, Danish citizens were warned not to travel to Arab countries and more than a dozen countries removed Danish goods from their shops.
Labour's Lord Ahmed expressed surprise at the decision to give a knighthood to Rushdie, who was placed under a fatwa, or death sentence, by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini 18 years ago after the publication of the allegedly blasphemous The Satanic Verses.
"I was appalled to hear Salman Rushdie had been given a knighthood," Lord Ahmed said.
"Two weeks ago the Prime Minister was calling for building relations between the Muslim world and Britain, then suddenly this knighthood is given to a man who has not only been abusive to Muslims, but also to Christians - because he used abusive language towards Jesus Christ."
He said whoever had made the decision had made Gordon Brown's job very difficult as he takes over as Prime Minister.
"The confidence that was being built within Britain with inter-faith work and community cohesion work has once again been damaged because of this provocative decision.
"This man not only provoked violence around the world because of his writings, but there were many people who were killed around the world.
"Forgiving and forgetting is one thing, but honouring the man who has blood on his hands, sort of, because of what he did, I think is going a bit too far."
In the Iranian capital Tehran, officials of a group called The Organisation to Commemorate the Martyrs of the Muslim World said a £80,000 reward should be paid to anyone 'who was able to execute the apostate Salman Rushdie'.
Forouz Rajaefar, the general secretary, said that the decision to honour Rushdie with a knight-hood demonstrated the animosity of Britain towards Islam.
He added: "The British and the supporters of the anti-Islam Salman Rushdie could rest assured that the writer's nightmare will not end until the moment of his death and we will bestow kisses on the hands of whomsoever is able to execute this apostate."
Iranian MP Mehdi Kuchakzadeh declared: "Rushdie died the moment the late Imam (Khomeini) issued the fatwa.
"It would be a hollow dream for the Queen of England to think that with such a move she could
revive one of her mercenaries to oppose Islam. Granting a knighthood to Salman Rushdie will only lead to further hatred towards Britain."
In the eastern Pakistan city of Multan, hard-line students burned effigies of the Queen and Rushdie.
About 100 students carrying banners condemning the author also chanted, 'Kill him! Kill him!'
Asim Dahr, a student leader demanded Rushdie face Islamic justice. "This Queen has made a mockery of Muslims by giving him a title of sir," he told the demonstrators.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Tasnim Aslam said Rushdie's knighthood would hamper inter-faith understanding and that Islamabad would protest to London.
"We deplore the decision of the British government to knight him. Salman Rushdie has tried to insult and malign Muslims."
As his apparent justification of suicide bombers was reported, ul-Haq took a step back and said he was trying to stress what was at the root of terrorism.
The reignited bitterness has caused concern at Scotland Yard. The taxpayer has already spent £10million protecting Rushdie 24-hours a day.
He is afforded the same level of protection as Lady Thatcher or some of the royals.
Robert Brinkley, British high commissioner to Pakistan, defended the honour for Rushdie for his contributions to literature.
"It is simply untrue to suggest that this in any way is an insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammed, and we have enormous respect for Islam as a religion and for its intellectual and cultural achievements," Mr Brinkley said.
Asked if he was concerned it could provoke unrest in Pakistan, he replied: "We will just have to see where it goes from here. There's certainly no reason for that."
Reader views (13)
Whilst I have never read a Salman Rushdie book, and have no desire to do so, I am sick to death of the reaction of the Muslim world to his 'honour'. Why is it that they react with uncontrolled fury to any perceived slight, however unintended. Why not express their displeasure in a diplomatic way instead of calling for murder and mayhem. Those are the actions of bullies, and any incitement to murder should and will be ignored by the British Government so the screaming hysterics will be totally counterproductive (although with Blair's spineless leadership you are never quite sure...!). If the Muslim world calmly expressed its disappointment at the award, I for one might even agree with them and support their cause. As it is, my hackles are raised and it all becomes a matter of principle rather than logic. Their reaction reminds me of my 4-year-old son who screams and stamps whenever things don't go his way - and my reaction is always the same: Stop shouting and screaming and talk to me in a calm and reasoned way and I might just listen!
- Tom, London
For those who find Rushdie too hard to read or who wonder what his achievement is; his thesis is quite simple. His book Satanic Verses suggests that the Prophet was fooled by the Devil and was not enlightened by God. As Tom Waits would say, '..there aint no Devil there's just God when he's drunk'. Either way the idea which is revolutionary, is that Islam needs to be theologically reviewed, as subdugation of the individual to a book, leads to evil. Do you value your own freedom of speech above or below that of the Mullahs? That is how you should decide where you stand on this issue, and many like it.
- Zened, London
The awards are supposed to be for service to the country. His service is to cost the country £10m and damage the reputation of the country. Oh, and to write some unreadable books.
You have to conclude that this was a calculated snub to the Islamic world, just as they are claiming.
- Peter, London
Actually, Rushdie was at least partly knighted for his charity work - in his case his tireless and ongoing activity (and often financial support) on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide.
"Services to literature" doesn't just mean writing books.
- Michael, London
I am outraged at the burning of an effigy of the Queen and our flag. I may burn an effigy of a Muslim...or maybe I'll just be tolerant.
- Ben, London, London
"this knighthood is given to a man who has not only been abusive to Muslims, but also to Christians - because he used abusive language towards Jesus Christ."
And there lies the crucial difference between Islam and Christianity - Christians may not like his remarks but just shrug them off. Muslims riot, kill entirely innocent people who work for Rushdie's publishers, make serious death threats, and cause Rushdie to go in to hiding for years.
Maybe it's about time Islam started turning the other cheek. Their thin-skinned hypersensitivity is an irritating turn-off, even to people who sympathise with them.
- Sarah N., London
Let's see, he's written 13 books and won 19 worldwide awards including two Booker Prizes, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Whitbread Novel Award (twice), the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Children's Fiction, Prix Colette, State Prize for Literature, Author of the Year, Mantua Prize, Premio Grinzane Cavour, Aristeion Prize. So obviously he's an accomplished author and worth of a knighthood, presumably he's just not to some peoples taste but obviously the low brow can't understand that.
As for JK Rowling being an accomplished authoress, as soon as she starts writing original fiction, i.e. storylines not plagiarised from authors Tolkien through to Alan Dean Foster then maybe she'll be considered for a Knighthood.
- Trevor Roll, London
Muslims react angrily over some tossy title and yet not a peep when Hamas murder Palestinian men, women and children?
Hmmm... makes you wonder!
- Frank, Home Counties, England
What a complete shambles! They don't know who to give the gongs out to any more. If Salman Rushdie gets a knighthood why did JK Rowling not get an equal award. She had sold far more books than Mr Rushdie and also her books have been made into films. And they are readable! Roll on Dame JK!
- Jan, Romford
It would be interesting to know WHO exactly put his name forward for this award of a Knighthood.
Looking at things logically I have done more during my working life to earn this award, and not cost other tax payers a penny in the process.
Perhaps the soon to be Ex PM has a sense of humour and this is a leaving gift to the nation.
- Kw, Wirral Merseyside
He has never been on Big Brother, and therefore he is not a serious celebrity. Too much fuss over unimportant people!
- Patrick, London
I have nothing against Salman Rushdie personally but am puzzling as to why on earth he got a knighthood. As far as I'm aware, the only thing he's achieved apart from selling books for his own profit is cost the British taxpayer millions every year in security?
- Marianne, SW France
His books are unreadable anyway, so I don't know what all the fuss is about.
- Ed, London
