MIDDLE EAST:Pakistan and Iran summoned the top British envoys in their countries yesterday to protest against the award of a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses outraged many Muslims.
Rushdie, whose book prompted the late Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to issue a 1989 fatwa death warrant against him for blasphemy, was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honours list.
Pakistanis protested in several cities yesterday, chanting "Death to Rushdie" and burning effigies of the British author, born in Bombay to Muslim parents in 1947 and educated at an exclusive British school and Cambridge University.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Tasnim Aslam, said British high commissioner Robert Brinkley had been called in.
"He was told that Salman Rushdie has been a controversial figure who is known less for his literary contribution and more for his offensive and insulting writing which deeply hurts the sentiments of Muslims all over the world," she said.
"Conferment of a knighthood on Salman Rushdie shows an utter lack of sensitivity on the part of the British government."
Iran's foreign ministry had similar words for Britain's ambassador to Tehran, Geoffrey Adams.
"This insulting, suspicious and improper act by the British government is an obvious example of fighting against Islam," Ebrahim Rahimpour, foreign ministry director for western Europe, told Adams, the official IRNA news agency said.
"It has seriously wounded the beliefs of 1.5 billion Muslims and followers of other religions ... we hold the British government and queen responsible for the circumstances of this provocation, which caused the anger of Muslims," Mr Rahimpour said.
IRNA quoted Adams as saying the Rushdie's award was a cultural, not a political, act.
The Satanic Verses prompted protests, some violent, by Muslims in many countries after it was published in 1988. Muslims say the novel blasphemed against the Prophet Mohammad and ridiculed the Koran and events in early Muslim history.
In 1998 Iran's government formally distanced itself from the original fatwa, which had forced Rushdie into hiding for nine years.
But hardline groups in Iran regularly renew the call for his murder, saying Khomeini's fatwa is irrevocable.
The Pakistani parliament passed a resolution on Monday deploring the knighthood, and religious affairs minister Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq said it could be used to justify suicide bombings.
Mr Haq said his comments on Monday were not meant to incite violence but it was a fact that the honour could motivate potential suicide bombers. He said the knighthood should be withdrawn and Britain should apologise to all Muslims.
"These are things which inflame sentiments, which create provocation and which lead to spreading extremism," he told a news conference.
Britain said it was concerned about the minister's comments and nothing could justify suicide blasts.