Ayatollah revives the death fatwa on Salman Rushdie

[emad]

Times
By Philip Webster, Ben Hoyle and Ramita Navai

A FATWA against the author Salman Rushdie was reaffirmed by Iran’s spiritual leader last night in a message to Muslim pilgrims.
British officials anxiously played down comments after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Muslims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that Rushdie was an apostate whose killing would be authorised by Islam, according to the Iranian media.

His words came during a lengthy tirade against “Western and Zionist capitalists” and the US-led War on Terror.

However, senior British officials swiftly made plain last night that the Iranian Government, which had disassociated itself from the fatwa in 1998, had not changed its position.They pointed out that because the fatwa was issued in February 1989 by Iran’s revolutionary founder and Khamenei’s predecessor, Ayatollah Khomeini, who had since died, it would always remain in existence.

They insisted that the move did not presage a further deterioration in the already tense relations with Iran over its nuclear programme. “This should not be taken as a new development,” one said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1448279,00.html

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. Oh, you are f*cking kidding me

Frank Rich is right: Iran is the ultimate red state.

[mr_hat]

2. Also, death to those Nike sneakers with

that Arabic-looking writing on them.

[emad]

3. Harsh.

What about that Islamic coca cola?

[punpirate]

4. If Iran wanted to reaffirm to the world that its direction,...

... particularly toward nuclear development, were sane and rational, this is obviously not the way to do it.

I would bet that there's an awful lot of young people in Iran who are now somewhat impatiently waiting for their day. And many middle class people who are thinking that trading the Shah's SAVAK for the religious police wasn't much of an improvement....

[ooglymoogly]

5. well cat steavens should love this

he publicly supported the first fatwa, effectively ending his career.

[mr_hat]

6. Hah! Anyone here remember "A-a-a-a-AY-a-TOllah?"

Sung to the tune of The Knack's "My Sharona"?

I think it was by the Chicago DJ Steve (Disco Demolition) Dahl.

[truthpusher]

7. Duplicate...

...a similar story was posted here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1166814

[frankly_fedup2]

8. Has anyone read this book? I glanced through it in the public

library and it was a work of fiction. They want him dead because he has an imagination.

It was not based on fact.

However, obviously there must be something about writing fiction as well as fact in this country?????

[Zenlitened]

9. Religious fundamentalism. Repulsive here, repulsive there...

... repulsive anywhere.

[Moderator]

10. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1166814