WAR: Iran: Death sentence on British author Salman Rushdie is still valid

The Revolutionary Guard, the hard line protectors of the ruling clergy, has declared that the 16 year old death sentence that had been issued to British author Salman Rushdie was irrevocable and still valid. The fatwa, or religious edict, was issued in 1989 following the publication of the book "The Satanic Verses". The fatwa issued by the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini which considered the book to be blasphemous.



This case highlights the bridge between the ruling clerics and the elected government in Iran. The reformist government has previously declared this a forgotten issue or closed case. Indeed in 1998, the Iranian government promised the British government that it would do nothing to implement the fatwa. Rusdie has required round the clock protection payed for by the British government since 1989. However, one has to wonder if ANY of the leaders so worked up about the book have ever read it? I have and it is one of the worst, poorly written, and confusing books I have ever read and I stopped half way through.

10-4 FredT.
From 1/20/2005:

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.

--snip--

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.

Ayatollah revives the death fatwa on Salman Rushdie




seekerof

This announcemet was from the Revolutionary Guards or the Pratorian guards of the ruling clerics. They keep the clerics in power.

It is interesting to note, that last year a plane went down in Iran killing almost 300 people. Little fanfare was made of it, however, it was a transit from one Revolutionary Guard base to another and most on board were identifed in IRNA press releases as ranking guard members. We could see the work of a 5th coloum of sorts within Iran and the plane may have been sabotaged or blown up.

Iran is obviously a peaceful nation. Warmongers Bush and Blair should be punished for their illegal rhetoric against the righteous and wholesome Iranians. Iranian nuclear weapons shall be used against the criminals in Israel, Britain and America--oops I meant Iranian nuclear power stations shall be used to produce power to light peaceful protests, yeah, that's the ticket!

I would think that if Iran puts an idiotic death sentence on a citizen, then the nation of which that person is a citizen should have sufficient grounds to deal with that country as it sees fit, up to and including warfare. When one citizen is oppressed in such a manner, then all citizens are equally oppressed.

If Rushdie is a British citizen, then I think it would be incumbent upon Britain make it impossible for Iran to make good on any such threat or to make payments for such a bounty, including rendering the nation null, void, and insolvent.

Of what value is citizenship, otherwise.

Just as an FYI according to the article, the Bounty on his head sits at 2.8 million. All this for a really bad book

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Iran is obviously a peaceful nation. Warmongers Bush and Blair should be punished for their illegal rhetoric against the righteous and wholesome

Rhetoric is illegal?

Don't bother to answer.