Sunday, January 22, 2012
FOX NEWS: The largest Muslim civil liberties group in the United States on Wednesday condemned Newt Gingrich for saying he would only hire Muslims to his administration if they renounced the use of Islam's Shariah law as a tool for U.S. government.
Calling Gingrich "one of the nation's worst promoters of anti-Muslim bigotry," the Council of American Islamic Relations suggested the Republican presidential candidate is a segregationist.
"Newt Gingrich's vision of America segregates our citizens by faith. His outdated political ideas look backward to a time when Catholics and Jews were vilified and their faiths called a threat," said CAIR Legislative Director Corey Sayolor in a statement.
"The time for bias in American politics has passed and Newt Gingrich looks like a relic of an ugly era," Sayolor said.
CAIR said the release was prompted by the candidate's remarks Tuesday in Columbia when, asked if he would ever endorse a Muslim running for president.
"It would depend entirely on whether they would commit in public to give up Shariah," Gingrich said.
"A truly modern person who happened to worship Allah would not be a threat, a person who belonged to any kind of belief in Shariah, any effort to impose it on the rest of us, would be a mortal threat," Gingrich told the crowd, adding that he's "totally opposed" to Shariah law being applied in American courts and favors a federal law that "preempts" its use. » | Joy Lin | Wednesday, January 18, 2012
SONNTAGSZEITUNG: Der Islamische Zentralrat Schweiz sammelte mithilfe eines angeblichen Terror-Financiers Spenden unter anderem für eine Initiative
Bern [–] Während des Ramadans im August 2011 war Nicolas Blancho, Präsident des Islamischen Zentralrat Schweiz (IZRS), einen Monat lang in Kuwait und Katar unterwegs. In privaten Treffen, Audienzen in Ministerien und Sitzungen mit arabischen Geschäftsmännern präsentierte er den IZRS und dessen Projekte - darunter den Bau einer Moschee in Bern oder die Lancierung der Volksinitiative, um das Minarettverbot aufzuheben. Auch die «Islam Unity»-Veranstaltung im Februar, die die Stadt Bülach kürzlich verboten hat, wird erwähnt.
Die SonntagsZeitung hat die arabischen Broschüren übersetzen lassen, die Blancho in Kuwait und Katar verteilt. Die Papiere belegen, dass Blancho Organisationen aus der Golfregion faktisch ermöglicht, in der Schweiz politischen Einfluss zu nehmen und eine fundamentale Auslegung des Islam zu verbreiten. Blancho hat stets beteuert, man finanziere sich ausschliesslich aus dem Inland. » | Von Daniel Glaus | Sonntag 15. Januar 2012
With three storeys, the planned mosque would be the biggest in the country. In addition to a prayer room for 270 men and 174 women, plans show that the building would have conference and training rooms, shops, underground parking and a garden.
The president of the Council, Nicolas Blancho, confirmed his fundraising activities in Kuwait and Qatar to newspapers SonntagsZeitung and Le Matin Dimanche on Sunday, although he said the organisation has not received any donations yet.
“For the time being, we’re just building relationships of trust with potential sponsors,” said Blancho, adding that searching for donors is a long process. » | Monday, January 16, 2012
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Nicolas Blancho veut 20 millions pour ériger une mosquée dans l'ouest bernois : Le président du Conseil central islamique suisse (CCIS) multiplierait les contacts pour lever des fonds et ériger une maison de Dieu musulmane à Bümpliz. » | ats/Newsnet | dimanche 15 janvier 2012
NZZ ONLINE: Riad zieht seine Beobachter ab - Arabische Liga entscheidet über Verlängerung
Saudiarabien will sich nicht länger an der arabischen Beobachtermission in Syrien beteiligen. Das Land ziehe seine Beobachter ab, weil die syrische Regierung sich an «keine Klausel» des arabischen Plans für ein Ende der Gewalt halte. » | sda/afp/Reuters | Sonntag 22. Januar 2012
ZEIT ONLINE: Das ägyptische Militär hat sein umstrittenes Urteil gegen den Blogger Sanad aufgehoben. Zum Jahrestag der Revolution sollen 1.950 weitere Gefangene freigelassen werden. » | Zeit Online, AFP | Sonntag 22. Januar 2012
Zagreb - Die Europäische Union vergrößert sich: Bei einem Referendum am Sonntag stimmten 67 Prozent der kroatischen Wähler für eine EU-Mitgliedschaft ihres Landes, 32 Prozent votierten dagegen, wie die Wahlkommission unter Berufung auf erste Teilergebnisse bekanntgab. Demnach wurden bisher 25 Prozent der abgegebenen Stimmzettel ausgezählt. Von den 4,5 Millionen Stimmberechtigten nahmen allerdings weniger als 50 Prozent an der Abstimmung teil.
Damit kann Kroatien am 1. Juli 2013 das 28. Mitglied der Europäischen Union werden. Die bis dahin notwendige Ratifizierung des Beitrittsvertrages durch alle bisherigen EU-Staaten gilt als Formsache. "Die EU ist eine Chance für den Fortschritt und die Entwicklung aller kroatischen Talente", sagte Regierungschef Zoran Milanovic. Und Staatspräsident Ivo Josipovic verkündete: "Es freut mich, dass Europa mein Zuhause wird." » | aar/AFP/dpa | Sonntag 22. Januar 2012
WELT ONLINE: Iranische Schauspielerin lässt sich nackt ablichten: Golshifteh Farahani hat sich in Paris für ein französisches Magazin ausgezogen. Die iranische Führung ist verärgert – und hat die Film-Schönheit ins Exil verbannt. » | Autor: Sonja Gillert | Donnerstag 19. Januar 2012
And the media despises Newt, right? He's so sarcastic and condescending towards us, brands us as elite liberals and uses us to whip up the Republican base.
Actually, wrong and wrong.
Gingrich loves the press. In some respects we are, as John McCain famously noted, his 'base'. He craves the media.
I've never seen a man so happy as Gingrich was when he ambled into the spin room in Myrtle Beach last Monday night and about 200 of us swarmed around him hanging on his every word.
Romney would have rather been anywhere else in the world than that in the middle of that heaving, sweaty scrum. But Newt was in pure heaven. He loves the game.
And it's mutual. The press laps up all things Newt. Like him, we thrive on chaos. He's a walking quote machine. You never know what he'll say next and he can't resist answering a question or engaging with a reporter. Read on and comment » | Toby Harnden | Sunday, January 22, 2012
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords announced her plans to step down from Congress Jan. 22, 2011.
Transcript of video:
"Arizona is my home, always will be. A lot has happened over the past year. We cannot change that. But I know on the issues we fought for we can change things for the better. Jobs, border security, veterans. We can do so much more by working together. I don't remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice. Thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. I have more work to do on my recovery so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week. I'm getting better. Every day, my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country. Thank you very much."
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said on Sunday he will release tax returns for the last two years this week and admitted the flap over his returns hurt him in South Carolina, where he lost a primary to Newt Gingrich.
"We made a mistake holding off as long as we did and it just was a distraction," the former Massachusetts governor added.
Gingrich won 40 per cent of the vote in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, while Romney came in a distant second with 28 per cent.
Romney, one of the wealthiest US presidential candidates in history, emphasised he was releasing two years of returns after Gingrich posted his returns for only 2010 on Thursday. » | Sunday, January 22, 2012
BBC: Republican candidate Newt Gingrich has appeared on a talk show in the US after his win in the South Carolina primary.
He told NBC's Meet The Press that the establishment should be worried about a Gingrich nomination. Watch BBC video » | Sunday, January 22, 2012
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Mitt Romney vowed resilience in the wake of a heavy loss in South Carolina, telling supporters that he would campaign as an unabashed champion of free enterprise and accusing Newt Gingrich of adopting "the weapons of the Left".
Speaking at the end of a week which saw a 10-point lead give way to a 12-point loss, the former Massachusetts governor showed a new level of aggression towards Mr Gingrich, who[m] he compared repeatedly to President Barack Obama.
Without uttering his rival's name, Mr Romney said: "President Obama has no experience running a business and no experience running a state. Our party can’t be led to victory by somebody who also has never run a business and never run a state."
He said that the Obama administration had attacked America's capitalist system but accused of Mr Gingrich of having "joined in that very assault on free enterprise".
"Those who pick up the weapons of the Left today will find them turned against us tomorrow," he warned.
“Let me be clear: If Republican leaders want to join this president in demonizing success and disparaging conservative values then they’re not going to be fit to be our nominee.” » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Sunday, January 22, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Group bidding to impose sharia law claims responsibility for wave of attacks in city of Kano
"We are still collecting the bodies so we cannot confirm the total death toll. We have nine so far. We will know the final number once we have finished collecting," a spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency told the Observer
.
Witnesses reported seeing at least 100 bodies sprawled around the regional police base alone. Officials in the main hospital said the wounded and dead were still being ferried in on Saturday, some after being trapped by overnight gunfights.
Authorities largely refused to offer casualty statistics as mourners began claiming the bodies of their loved ones to bury before sundown, following Islamic tradition. However, a hospital official told the Associated Press at least 143 people were killed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the death toll to journalists. The figure could rise further, since other bodies could be held at other clinics and hospitals. » | Monica Mark in Lagos | Saturday, January 21, 2012
Fox News projects that Mitt Romney will place second in the Palmetto State, where he was leading in the polls just one week ago. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are battling for third place, and that contest remains too close to call, though Fox News exit polls show Santorum with a slight lead over the Texas congressman.
Gingrich's victory marks a remarkable comeback for the former House speaker, propelled by his strong performance in two debates in South Carolina this week.
Romney's aides had been downplaying expectations by late Saturday, acknowledging the momentum that had been going Gingrich's way in recent days. » | FoxNews.com | Saturday, January 21, 2012
CELEBS: Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani posed nude in a french magazine called Madame Le Figaro, and this has sparked a firestorm of controversy on a Facebook page in support of her decision. The French Film Academy also included the actress in a video (warning brief nudity) along with several other celebrities stripping off their clothing.
In the nude photos, Golshifteh Farahani actually cupped her hands over her breasts to preserve her modesty. Even this, though, was too much for the Government of Iran. They told her not to bother ever coming back.
It seems that many Iranians have opinions about the actress's bold move. Some believe that she betrayed Islam and her country by baring her breasts for cameras. However, others applaud her boldness.
A comment on the Facebook page in support of her that is representative of those who support the actress said, "Good for you Golshifteh dear! For once an Iranian with guts has come out to show we are just like anyone else in this world. You can model and do whatever you like, just like every woman from Los Angeles to Tokyo." Join the conversation » | Kate James | Saturday, January 21, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Flamenco wird von Männern und Frauen getanzt, Frauen jedoch tanzen ihn häufiger“, tönt aus dem Dunkeln tapfer eine Lautsprecherstimme auf Arabisch und Englisch. Das Auditorium tuschelt leise und erwartungsfroh. Immerhin, das puritanisch-wahhabitische Königreich Saudiarabien gönnt sich an diesem Abend eine ganz besondere Premiere: die erste Flamencovorstellung seit Menschengedenken in der Heimat des Propheten.
Mit dem weltberühmten andalusischen Körperzauber allerdings hat das, was dann im König-Fahd-Kulturzentrum in Riad auf die Bühne kommt, nur sehr entfernt zu tun. Die staatlichen Moralzensoren haben ganze Arbeit geleistet – anderthalb Stunden ohne Paartanz, keine einzige Frau auf der Bühne, nach einem Dutzend einsamer Männersoli fällt der Vorhang. Die Flamencoband spielt die ganze Zeit hinter einem zusätzlichen grauen Sichtschutz – denn zum Ensemble gehört auch eine Frau, die nach saudisch-islamischer Sitte dort nichts zu suchen hat. Selbst beim Schlussapplaus bleibt die Künstlerin den Blicken entzogen, nur einer der Musiker deutet unbeholfen hinter sich in das Bühnendunkel, wo sich seine Kollegin vermutlich irgendwo verborgen hält. „Das haben wir bei unserem letzten Spanien-Urlaub aber viel besser gesehen“, schimpfen zwei Damen in fein bestickten Abayas und streben zu ihren Luxuslimousinen, die samt Fahrer draußen auf dem riesigen Parkplatz warten. » | Von Martin Gehlen | Samstag 21. Januar 2012
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Des manifestants ont jeté samedi plusieurs grenades artisanales sur le siège du Conseil national de transition à Benghazi.
«Les manifestants ont pris d’assaut le siège et ont saccagé ses bureaux», a déclaré ce responsable sous couvert de l’anonymat.
Selon des témoins, une brigade d’ex-rebelles a sécurisé un passage pour permettre au président du CNT Moustapha Abdeljalil et à d’autres membres du Conseil de quitter le bâtiment.
Les protestataires, armés de pierres et de barres de fer, ont investi les lieux et ils ont par la suite saccagé les locaux, selon la même source.
Auparavant, des manifestants avaient jeté plusieurs grenades artisanales sur le siège du CNT sans faire de victimes, ont indiqué des témoins. » | ats/Newsnet | samedi 21 janvier 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Ofcom revokes English-language channel's licence for breaching the Communications Act
Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster's English-language outlet, has been forced off the air in the UK after Ofcom revoked its licence for breaching the Communications Act.
Ofcom found that Press TV's practice of running its editorial oversight from Tehran, Iran's capital, is in breach of broadcasting licence rules in the UK.
"Ofcom has decided to revoke the licence held by Press TV Limited with immediate effect," the media regulator said in a statement.
Ofcom wrote a letter to Press TV in November highlighting the issue and offered a choice of two remedies.
The first was to switch editorial control for Press TV's programming to the UK, the second to transfer the broadcasting licence to Iran.
"Broadcasting rules require that a licence is held by the person who is in general control of the TV service: that is, the person that chooses the programmes to be shown in the service and organises the programme schedule," Ofcom said.
"Ofcom gave Press TV the opportunity to apply to have its operations in Tehran correctly licensed by Ofcom and Ofcom offered to assist it to do so," said the regulator.
Ofcom said Press TV failed to respond to or implement either of these two options.
"Press TV was given the opportunity to make representations on Ofcom's 'minded to revoke' letter," the regulator said. "Press TV has failed to make the necessary application and Ofcom has therefore revoked Press TV's licence to broadcast in the UK." » | Mark Sweney | Friday, January 20, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain bans Iran's Press TV from airwaves: Britain took a key communications arm of the Iranian state off the airwaves on Friday when Press TV, a satellite news channel, lost its broadcasting licence. » | David Blair | Friday, January 20, 2012
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: A year ago, as he watched the great uprisings in Tunis and Cairo, French scholar Olivier Roy declared that they marked the end of Islamist politics. “If you look at the people who launched these revolts,” he wrote, “it is clear that they represent a post-Islamist generation. … The new revolutionaries are perhaps practising or even devout Muslims, but they separate their religious faith from their political agenda. In that sense, it is a ‘secular’ movement that separates religion from politics.”
Well, you might say, how awkward. Those January protesters may have been secular and liberal, but, when I visited Tahrir Square six months later, Islamists commanded the stage. We’ve recently watched Egypt’s first somewhat free elections give 48 per cent of the vote to a party controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, plus 20 per cent to 28 per cent to Salafists, who aren’t just Islamist but want an actual theocracy. Secular liberals were left with a rump of 15 per cent to 20 per cent. If this is “post-Islamist,” it sure has a lot of crescents and guys with beards. » | Doug Saunders | Saturday, January 21, 2012
Im Confederate Museum von Charleston ist die Zeit stehengeblieben. Bewacht von einer Kanone und zwei freundlichen Ladys sind hier die Reliquien eines Nationaltraumas aufbewahrt: blutige Uniformen, Stiefel, Säbel, Feldbibeln, eine Locke von General Robert E. Lee und natürlich zahllose Südstaatenflaggen - zerschossen, zerfleddert, geflickt.
In South Carolina, könnte man meinen, wird der amerikanische Bürgerkrieg weitergefochten. Briefe in den Vitrinen preisen den "Stolz des Südens", die "Rebellion", "unseren fragilen Sieg" gegen "die Aggression des Nordens". Kaum ein Wort von Sklaverei oder davon, dass der blutige Konflikt mit rund 650.000 Gefallenen bis heute der verlustreichste Krieg in der US-Geschichte ist.
Sorgfältig pflegt der Südstaat sein Image vom ewigen Schlachtfeld. Und so wundert es nicht, dass die Medien, wenn sie alle vier Jahre zur Vorwahl für die Präsidentschaftskandidatur in South Carolina, einfallen, gerne in die martialische Rhetorik einfallen: "Bürgerkrieg der Republikaner", betitelte ABC-Korrespondent Michael Falcone seinen Wahlkampfbericht am Freitag. » | Aus Charleston, South Carolina, berichtet Marc Pitzke | Samstag 21. Januar 2012
BLOOMBERG: Striving to regain ground in the final hours before the South Carolina primary, Mitt Romney offered a dim assessment of his chances in the race as he sparred with a surging Newt Gingrich.
Traveling the state in the final full day of campaigning before today’s voting, the former Massachusetts governor sought to downplay expectations, describing the race as a “neck-and- neck” competition.
“I said from the very beginning South Carolina is an uphill battle for a guy from Massachusetts,” he told reporters yesterday in Gilbert, South Carolina. “We’re battling hard.”
Gingrich, seeking to ride what polls show is a late wave of support, planned a full day of campaign stops in a bid to top Romney.
“The only effective conservative vote to stop a Massachusetts moderate is to vote for me,” Gingrich told an overflow crowd of more than 500 voters yesterday at The Cinema Room in Orangeburg. “If I win tomorrow, I will go on to become the nominee.” » | Lisa Lerer and Julie Hirschfeld Davis | Saturday, January 21, 2012
THE TIMES: In his 35-year political career, Newt Gingrich has compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, William Wallace, Pericles, Charles de Gaulle, the Duke of Wellington, a Viking and Moses. Now, with the… » | Alexandra Frean, Charleston | Saturday, January 21, 2012 [£]
Related »
THE GUARDIAN: The US president may not be smelling of quite so many roses these days, but the Republican opposition is so flawed and divided, he's odds-on to get a second term
This will be a year of elections, with presidential ballots in Russia, France and the US, along with an imminent change at the top in China. While a coronation for Vladimir Putin and the possibility of a run-off betweenNicolas Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen is hardly a prospect to savour, the US contest could be a rare source of political good cheer in 2012.
On paper it should be anything but. Barack Obama has disappointed those who had such high hopes back in 2008. The US economy has limped under him and he has proved a more hesitant figure than he promised. By rights, he should be vulnerable in November.
And yet few would bet against him winning a second term – becoming, incredibly, only the eighth Democrat in US history to achieve such a feat. … » | Jonathan Freedland | Friday, January 21, 2012
THE LOCAL – NORWAY: A 21-year-old man will face a remand hearing on Friday following his arrest on suspicion of having posted a hateful video to the internet calling on Allah to destroy members of the Norwegian government and royal family.
The suspect will appear in front of Skien district court in south-eastern Norway at 1pm on Friday.
The man, a Norwegian citizen with a Central American family background, was arrested at his home in the town at 11pm on Wednesday by officers from the Telemark police service and the domestic police intelligence agency, PTS.
He faces preliminary charges of threatening state officials and incitement to terrorism. » | NTB/TheLocal | Friday, January 20, 2012
HT: Marisol @ Jihad Watch »
BIKYA MASR: CAIRO: Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani has left much of the Islamic world in an uproar over her nude image in a French magazine, which she then posted on Facebook. The actress has spoken out, saying she wanted to make a symbolic gesture about nudity and sex.
“This video clip is a symbolic gesture to remove the common taboos that exist in various societies and does not aim to promote nudity or sex,” a Facebook statement from her said. “By taking part in these photo shoots the people taking part wish to demonstrate their redeem[p]tion from these taboos by the way they act and talk.
“The objective is to liberate their soul and bodies at the same time. As long as an individual has no power iver [sic] her or his body and their soul does not have the command of the way they wish to think, then they do not have a true freedom.
“Although I do not think looking at the nude photo of another human may have an attraction, but it is certainly far more enjoyable than looking at the fully covered and burqa and hejab wearing body of a woman who has been wrapped and imprisoned by her man. So much for not looking at women as sex symbols as the fundamentalists want us to believe!” she added. » | Joseph Mayton | Friday, January 20, 2012
IRANIAN.COM: The publication of a nude picture of a popular Iranian actress currently in exile in Paris has sparked enormous Internet buzz, and polarized many Iranians conflicted about nudity—at a time that Iran’s independent movie community is under severe repression by authorities. Is it a courageous act of challenging Islamic and cultural taboos, or an insensitive and selfish move that might give Tehran hardliners an excuse in to put more pressure on Iran’s independent film community. » | Omid Memarian | The Daily Beast | Friday, January 20, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iranian police have targetted dozens of shops selling Barbie dolls in the latest campaign against the spread of Western decadence in the Islamic republic.
The embattled Iranian regime wages an unceasing war against the encroachments of Western influence. Islamic laws require women to protect their modesty will all enveloping clothing.
However Iranian girls, like their counterparts in the West, have grown up on dressing Barbie dolls in tight fitting clothing and hair styling. » | Damien McElroy | Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Friday was the 70th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, when senior Nazis coordinated plans for the Holocaust. Germany marked the somber occasion with a ceremony at the villa where the meeting took place.
Germany somberly marked the 70th anniversary of the infamous Wannsee Conference on Friday, with the country's president saying the meeting that laid out plans for the Holocaust still caused "anger and shame."
At the same villa on the shore of Berlin's Wannsee lake where the original meeting took place, now a museum, President Christian Wulff told an audience that even though many years have passed, Germany should never be allowed to forget its responsibility for the genocide of some 6 million European Jews. "Therefore it is important and a national task to keep the memory alive," he said. » | kla, with wire reports | Friday, January 20, 2012
PHOTO GALLERY: Bureaucrats of Genocide »
LE FIGARO: Depuis 2005, le nombre de viols commis par des soldats américains a presque doublé. Selon un rapport de l'armée, c'est l'une des conséquences des traumatismes subis après dix ans de guerre en Afghanistan et en Irak.
Toutes les trois heures, un crime violent est commis par un militaire américain. C'est le chiffre donné par un rapport publié jeudi par l'armée américaine sur la santé et la discipline au sein de ses troupes. Le document révèle que 2811 crimes violents ont été commis en 2011, sur une base à l'étranger ou sur le sol américain, dont presque la moitié de nature sexuelle. Depuis 2005, ces derniers ont connu une augmentation foudroyante, de 90%, largement au-dessus des statistiques nationales. Et l'état-major s'attend à ce que cet écart augmente encore dans les prochaines années. » | Par Thomas Vampouille | vendredi 20 janvier 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An Indonesian civil servant who posted a Facebook message asserting that God did not exist was taken into protective custody after being badly beaten by a mob, some of them his colleagues.
The atheist identified as Alexander, who goes by just one name, now faces five years imprisonment for blasphemy after police officially arrested and charged him on Friday.
The Indonesian Council of Ulema, the Islamic religious authority, reported him over his remarks on a Facebook page he moderated which said: "God does not exist" Mr Alexander, 31, turned up at his government planning offices in Dharmasraya, western Sumatra, on Wednesday to be confronted by a group of men who beat him and then took him to the police. » | Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok | Friday, January 20, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sir Salman Rushdie has announced his withdrawal from a leading Indian literature festival after officials warned professional assassins were on their way to kill him.
Leaders of the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary, one of the most influential in the world, had earlier called for Sir Salman to be barred from India to stop him in appearing at the festival in protest over his controversial novel The Satanic Verses.
They said the author could never be forgiven for his narrator's claim blasphemous [sic] that disputed verses on the Koran were disclosed by the Archangel Gabriel.
The novel provoked anger throughout the Muslim world when it was published in 1988 and was also banned in India where the secular government feared it would cause communal tensions. Iran's then spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for him to be killed.
The threat was later lifted and the author eventually emerged from hiding and heavy security to return to normality, but according to Indian officials the controversy over his visit has brought a new threat to his life. » | Dean Nelson, Jaipur | Friday, January 20, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Salman Rushdie pulls out of Jaipur literary festival over assassination fears: Salman Rushdie says intelligence sources warned him that 'paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld' might try to kill him » | Jason Burke in Jaipur | Friday, January 20, 2012
MAIL ONLINE: Salman Rushdie Cancels Indian Literary Festival Appearance over Death Threats from Muslim Extremists: Salman Rushdie cancelled plans to appear at an Indian literature festival today after warnings he could be targeted for assassination by Islamic extremists. » | Damien Gayle | Friday, January 20, 2012
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