Your friends in evil at it again lil Ritch:
Tuesday, 26 November, 2002, 14:13 GMT
'Death sentence' on Nigerian journalist
Hundreds of people have been arrested in Kaduna
The deputy governor of Zamfara state in northern Nigeria has urged Muslims to kill the woman who wrote an article which insulted the Prophet Mohammed, sparking religious riots last week.
Fashion writer Isioma Daniel resigned after writing in the ThisDay newspaper that the Prophet Mohammed may have approved of the Miss World contest and possibly wished to marry one of the beauty queens.
It is binding on all Muslims wherever they are, to consider the killing of the writer as a religious duty
Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi Zamfara deputy governor
Following protests over her article, more than 200 people were killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians in the northern city of Kaduna last week.
The Miss World contest was moved to London after the riots.
Ms Daniel is in hiding but is believed to be still in Nigeria.
ThisDay has retracted the article and printed several apologies.
'Irresponsible journalism'
After the article was published, Muslim leaders in Kaduna urged their followers to demonstrate and text messages were sent on mobile phones.
Zamfara's deputy governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi told religious leaders in the state capital, Gusau: "Like Salman Rushdie, the blood of Isioma Daniel can be shed."
The speech was rebroadcast on local radio in Zamfara state, which was the first state in Nigeria to introduce Islamic law.
"It is binding on all Muslims wherever they are, to consider the killing of the writer as a religious duty".
A "fatwa" was pronounced on Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie in 1989 by the then Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, for alleged blasphemy in his novel, the Satanic Verses.
A fatwa is a legal statement issued by an Islamic religious leader.
A senior official from Nigeria's highest Muslim body said that he was still studying the Zamfara statement.
Lateef Adegbite, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, hinted that he disagreed with the decree, because the journalist was not a Muslim and the newspaper had retracted the article and published apologies, according to the French news agency, AFP.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has blamed "irresponsible journalism" for the bloodshed.
Sharia courts
Calm has now returned to Kaduna and mass funerals have begun for more than 200 people known to have died in the four days of rioting.
Court cases against the alleged killers have started.
Churches and mosques were attacked
The Red Cross said 215 bodies had been counted on Kaduna's streets and in mortuaries and correspondents say the death toll could rise yet further. Muslim defendants are being tried by the Islamic or Sharia courts in Kaduna State, while Christians are appearing before civilian jurisdictions.
It is estimated that more than 1,000 people were injured and more than 11,000 made homeless in the clashes.
Civil rights activists said more than 20 churches and eight mosques were burnt down in the city as well as a number of hotels.
Two years ago, Kaduna saw more than 2,000 deaths in clashes between Christians and Muslims, sparked by the introduction of Sharia law. |
