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Pakistan Taliban: 'Amnesty' for bounty minister
Source: Agencies |
September 27, 2012, Thursday
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THE Pakistani Taliban announced yesterday that they would give a Cabinet minister an "amnesty" by taking him off their hit list, because he offered a US$100,000 bounty for the killing of an anti-Islam filmmaker.
Meanwhile, a faction of the Afghan Taliban announced its own bounty of almost US$500,000 in gold for those behind "Innocence of Muslims," the film that has sparked deadly protests across the Islamic world.
Muslims have been angered by the crude, amateurish film's portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. Dozens of people, including the US ambassador to Libya, have died in violence linked to protests over the movie.
The main figure behind the video, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, has put his home up for sale and gone into hiding since violence erupted over the 14-minute YouTube trailer for the film.
Some of the most intense protests have erupted in Pakistan, where the role of Islam in society is sacrosanct and anti-American sentiment runs high. It was in that atmosphere that Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour offered his US$100,000 reward last Saturday for anyone who kills Nakoula.
Bilour also appealed to al-Qaida and Taliban militants to help eliminate the filmmaker, while Pakistan's government said the bounty reflected Bilour's personal view and was not official policy.
The minister belongs to the secular Awami National Party, an ally in the government of President Asif Ali Zardari. His comments drew criticism within his own party, which is considered anti-Taliban and has lost several leaders in the fight against the insurgency.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said yesterda that the minister's views represent the true spirit of Islam, and that, consequently, the insurgents have removed him from their hit list.
But while Bilour gets an "amnesty," others in his party are still fair game, Ahsan said.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban faction known as the Dadullah Group yesterday offered eight kilograms of gold to anyone who kills the film's creators.
The Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban are separate, though linked, militant outfits.
Meanwhile, a faction of the Afghan Taliban announced its own bounty of almost US$500,000 in gold for those behind "Innocence of Muslims," the film that has sparked deadly protests across the Islamic world.
Muslims have been angered by the crude, amateurish film's portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. Dozens of people, including the US ambassador to Libya, have died in violence linked to protests over the movie.
The main figure behind the video, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, has put his home up for sale and gone into hiding since violence erupted over the 14-minute YouTube trailer for the film.
Some of the most intense protests have erupted in Pakistan, where the role of Islam in society is sacrosanct and anti-American sentiment runs high. It was in that atmosphere that Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour offered his US$100,000 reward last Saturday for anyone who kills Nakoula.
Bilour also appealed to al-Qaida and Taliban militants to help eliminate the filmmaker, while Pakistan's government said the bounty reflected Bilour's personal view and was not official policy.
The minister belongs to the secular Awami National Party, an ally in the government of President Asif Ali Zardari. His comments drew criticism within his own party, which is considered anti-Taliban and has lost several leaders in the fight against the insurgency.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said yesterda that the minister's views represent the true spirit of Islam, and that, consequently, the insurgents have removed him from their hit list.
But while Bilour gets an "amnesty," others in his party are still fair game, Ahsan said.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban faction known as the Dadullah Group yesterday offered eight kilograms of gold to anyone who kills the film's creators.
The Afghan Taliban and the Pakistani Taliban are separate, though linked, militant outfits.
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