Pakistan says Rushdie knighthood may spark terrorism

Pakistan demanded on Monday that Britain withdraw a knighthood awarded to author Salman Rushdie, as a government minister said the honour gave a justification for suicide attacks by Muslims.Angry protesters in several cities torched British flags and beat them with their shoes in protest at the accolade for the Indian-born writer of "The Satanic Verses" and chanted "Death to Britain, death to Rushdie."Rushdie, 59, was forced to go into hiding for a decade after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 issued a death sentence over his book "The Satanic Verses,"claiming it insulted Islam.
Iran has already accused British leaders of "Islamophobia" after Rushdie-now Sir Salman-was awarded the knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday to mark her 81st birthday."If somebody has to attack by strapping bombs to his body to protect the honour of the Prophet, then it is justified," Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq told the national assembly.
The minister, the son of military dictator Zia-ul-Haq who died in a plane crash in 1988, later retracted his statement in parliament and said he meant to say that knighting Rushdie could spark terrorism."I was explaining that if the British government awards a knighthood to Salman Rushdie-whose only credibility is that he wrote a blasphemous book-then such action with encourage extremism," he told AFP."If someone blows himself up he will consider himself justified. How can we fight terrorism when those who commit blasphemy are rewarded by the West?" he said.He said Pakistan should sever diplomatic ties with Britain if it did not withdraw the award, adding: "We demand an apology by the British government. Their action has hurt the sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims.The national assembly earlier unanimously passed a resolution condemning the knighthood given to Rushdie."We demand that Britain should refrain from such acts which hurt the sentiments of Muslims and take back the title of Sir given to Rushdie," parliamentary affairs minister Sher Afgan said.The resolution added that the award would encourage "contempt" for the Prophet Mohammed.Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Tasnim Aslam warned that the British honour would harm efforts to promote understanding between Muslim nations and the West.The British High Commission (embassy) in Islamabad defended the decision to bestow the knighthood on Rushdie."Sir Salman's honour is richly deserved and the reasons for it are self-explanatory," said spokesman Aidan Liddle."This knighthood is a reflection of Salman Rushdie's contribution to literature through a long and diverse career."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070618164324.minbd9dd&show_article=1
PS:Well,we have more of the muslim bullying towards the rest of the world.They are threatening now with"suicide bombers"...and that's civilized and peaceful....!!!They do have a low umbral for frustration.If christians worldwide would say anything of that sort we would be called"satan" ...which by the way we are already called by muslims along with jews called pigs by them and of course if you that are reading are not a christian or a jew you are still an "indifel"...
As in the days of Noah....