The not-so-shocking death fatwa.
Terry Jones, the Florida evangelical pastor who threatened to hold a Quran burning last Sept. 11 only to back down in the face of international outrage, finally went ahead and burned one.
And now there’s a 2.2-million-dollar price on his head.
Jones appointed himself “judge” and presided over a trial hearing evidence and testimony against Islam’s holy book. A “jury” found the book guilty of crimes against humanity; promoting terrorist acts; raping, torturing and killing people “whose only crime was not being of the Islamic faith.” Also, its treatment of women was found lacking.
Interestingly, lethal injection and electrocution, the two forms of capital punishment in Florida, were not offered to the convicted holy book. Instead, an online Facebook poll picked the sentence from these choices – burning, shredding, drowning or firing squad. Burning won.
Sentence was carried out by soaking the convicted in kerosene, placing it a metal tray and igniting it with a barbecue lighter. Thirty people witnessed the execution.
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the desecration of the Quran during his address to a joint sitting of parliament. The country’s Foreign Office in Islamabad called it a “despicable act.”
Pakistan’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a banned Islamic organization and suspected terrorist group, announced a reward of 10 crore rupees (about $2.2 million) for anyone who kills the preacher.