British Muslims join protests over knighthood of Salman Rushdie

LONDON -- British Muslims joined in protests on Friday against Britain's decision to honor Salman Rushdie with a knighthood, while a hard-line Islamic cleric in Iran declared that the 1989 religious edict calling for the author to be killed remained in place.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami told students in Tehran that the edict, known as a fatwa, could not be revoked, and he warned Britain it was defying the Islamic world by honoring a man who Muslims feel insulted their religion.

Muslims also demonstrated in Pakistan and India's Kashmir region.

The protesters in London, some masking their faces with scarves, addressed worshippers leaving prayers outside Regent's Park mosque. Gathered under a canopy of trees, the crowd of about 100 people listened to speeches demanding the Iranian death edict be expedited.

Several chanted "Death to Rushdie! Death to the queen!" They carried placards, one reading: "Salman Rushdie should be punished, not praised." A picture of England's St. George's Cross flag painted on the back of a placard was burned.

Watching the protest, business student Abdullah Azzam said most British Muslims opposed Rushdie's knighthood. "The majority think it's wrong and believe that his book offends Islam," said Azzam, 23. "But a lot of people don't want to say that in public."

Protest organizer Anjem Choudray said demonstrations across Pakistan, Iran and Malaysia show the outcry will grow. "This knighthood is just another example of [Prime Minister] Tony Blair and his government's attempts to secularize Muslims and reward apostates," he said.

"Rushdie is a hate figure across the Muslim world," he said. "This honor will have ramifications here and across the world."

The Muslim Council of Britain wrote to mosques and Islamic groups urging Muslims to "face provocation with dignity and wisdom" in protesting the decision to honor Rushdie.

"We should not allow the situation to be inflamed in any way or be exploited by other unsavory groups so as to bring our community and our noble faith into disrepute," the letter said.

Rushdie's knighthood was included last week among Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honors list, which is decided on by independent committees that vet nominations from the public and the government. The prime minister and the monarch have only a ceremonial role in approving them.

Iran's late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued the fatwa against Rushdie, ordering Muslims to kill him because his novel "The Satanic Verses" was deemed to insult Islam.

The author, who was raised Muslim, denied the accusation, but lived in hiding for almost a decade.

Some analysts have expressed surprise that Rushdie's knighthood was approved.

"There is an impression they really didn't consider the potential reaction," said Rosemary Hollis, director of research at London's Chatham House think tank. "The Foreign Office has some input and surely pointed out that this would be received badly in some quarters."

She speculated the committee had "a sense that showing too much sensitivity is to kowtow to radicals, and that there is a national interest to stand up to Islamic critics of the U.K."

Committee member Andreas Whittam Smith, former editor of Britain's Independent newspaper, said the panel based it decisions only on whether Rushdie's work merited an honor. Rushdie's 13 books have won numerous awards, including the Booker Prize for "Midnight's Children" in 1981.

Home Secretary John Reid defended the award, saying it demonstrated British freedoms. Britain offers people "honors for their contribution to literature even when they don't agree with our point of view," he said.

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Associated Press writer Lindsay Toler contributed to this report.