PAKISTAN’S AWAMI National Party, a central government coalition partner, distanced itself from a minister who promised a bounty to kill the maker of an anti-Islam film that has sparked protests in the Muslim world.
The threat isn’t in keeping with the party’s policy of non-violence, said party spokesman Zahid Khan yesterday.
Federal railway minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour yesterday told reporters he would pay $100,000 (€77,000) to have the film producer killed, according to local media outlets, including the Dawn newspaper.
The film, called Innocence of Muslims, has been the spark for deadly attacks on American and European targets from the Middle East to southeast Asia.
Pakistanis protesting over the film clashed with police in several cities where mobs set fire to cinemas, banks, fast-food outlets and vehicles. Mr Bilour could not be reached for comment.
“It is the minister’s personal opinion,” Mr Khan said. “This is not Pakistan’s policy.”
Pakistani television channels have aired an advertisement by the US state department with President Barack Obama and secretary of state Hillary Clinton disavowing the film. Anti-American sentiment has been running high in Pakistan after years of US drone missile attacks, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town last year and other confrontations. – (Bloomberg)