Pakistan condemns Rushdie honour

Religious Affair Minister Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq said Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" insulted Muslims around the world and that insults to Islam were the root cause of terrorism.

The West always wonders about the root cause of terrorism. Such actions are the root cause of it," Ejaz-ul-Haq told parliament. "If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammad, his act is justified," he said.

"If Britain doesn't withdraw the award, all Muslim countries should break off diplomatic relations." However later he told parliament he had not meant to justify suicide attacks but he was trying to stress what was at the root of terrorism.

Rushdie was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honours list published on Saturday.

The Satanic Verses prompted protests, some violent, by Muslims in many countries after it was published in 1988. The late Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa death warrant against Rushdie in 1989, which forced him into hiding for nine years.

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