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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan clerics seethe; JaD says Pope must go |
| 2006-09-22 |
| From BBC Radical Muslim clerics and scholars in Pakistan have demanded the removal of Pope Benedict XVI for what they called "insulting remarks" against Islam. The Pope should be dismissed for "encouraging war and fanning hostility between various faiths" the hundreds of senior Muslims said in a joint message. The Pope has said he is "deeply sorry" that his words, quoting a 14th Century Christian emperor, had upset Muslims. But his apology was rejected by the Muslims meeting in Lahore, Pakistan. "The Pope, and all infidels, should know that no Muslim, under any circumstances, can tolerate an insult to the Prophet [Muhammad]. If the West does not change its stance regarding Islam, it will face severe consequences," said the joint statement. The group behind the meeting, Jamaat al-Dawat, has been listed by the US government as a "terrorist" group for its alleged links with Kashmiri militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba. "The Pope's statement against Prophet Muhammad was not unintentional," said Sajid Mir, a religious scholar and MP who took part in the meeting. "He has opened a new and an organised front against Islam and Muslims should prepare themselves for jihad because the Pope's insulting remarks against Islam follow President George W Bush's statement on crusades," he said. From AFP Hundreds of Pakistani Islamists held street protests to condemn Pope Benedict XVI for remarks they regard as anti-Islamic, with one leader saying the pontiff should be crucified. Demonstrators Friday poured out of mosques after the main weekly Muslim prayers in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore, the capital Islamabad and other urban centres. "If the pope comes here we will hang him on the Cross," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Pakistan's main alliance of radical parties, told around 200 noisy demonstrators in Islamabad. The alliance, called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Front, forms part of the parliamentary opposition and is often heavily involved in street protests in mostly Muslim Pakistan. Ahmed also said the pope had joined US President George W. Bush's "crusade" against Muslims, referring to Christians who fought against Muslims from the 11th through the 13th centuries. In Karachi police said at least 100 hardliners shouted slogans demanding an apology from the pope and criticising the United States. "Religious leaders like the pope should not use (US President George W.) Bush's tone," Merajul Huda, Karachi chief of the hardline Jamaat-i-Islami party, told the rally. Witnesses said more than 300 people chanted slogans against the pope outside an Islamic school in the central city of Multan. Dozens more massed in Lahore. Prayer leaders also condemned the pope during Friday sermons around the country. A gathering of hundreds of fundamentalists in Lahore on Thursday said Pope Benedict should be removed from his position for his "blasphemous" comments. The Pakistani parliament has also condemned the pope's comments and the foreign ministry summoned the Vatican's envoy in Islamabad last week to lodge a protest. |
| Posted by:john |
| #3 Just when you think they might surprise you. Wham! Back to same old playbook. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-09-22 19:40 |
| #2 Irony sure is wasted on these ignorant cultists. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-09-22 19:35 |
| #1 HOw bout those guys gotta go, how bout that. |
| Posted by: Whaviger Unerelet4716 2006-09-22 18:31 |