Muslims in UK demand capital punishment for Pope

London, Sep 18: A day after Pope Benedict XVI apologised over his remarks against Islam, Muslim leader Anjem Choudary told a demonstration here that the Pope should face execution for his comments.

''Those who insulted Islam should be subject to capital punishment,'' he told demonstrators who were protesting outside Westminster Cathedral yesterday.

He said, ''Muslims take their religion very seriously and non-Muslims must appreciate their religious sentiments and they must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the Prophet,'' he added.

Demonstrators were holding placards attacking saying ''Pope go to Hell, Trinity of Evil: Western Crusade against Islam''.

Mr Choudary said,'' Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment. I am here to have a peaceful demonstration. But there may be people in Italy or other parts of the world who would carry that out. I think that warning needs to be understood by all people who want to insult Islam and the Prophet,''he added.

A website run in the name of the Mujahdeen Army, which allegedly claimed responsibility for attacks in Iraq, addressed the Pope as ''You dog of Rome''.

However, spokesman of the Scotland Yard said, ''We have had no complaints about this. There were around 100 people at the demonstration. It passed off peacefully and there were no arrests.'' Larger Islamic groups in Britain however, said they accepted the Pope's apology. Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain said, ''The Vatican has moved quickly to deal with the hurt and we accept that. It was something that should never have happened - words of that nature were always likely to cause dismay - and we believe some of the Pope's advisers may have been at fault over his speech.'' Pope Benedict had yesterday apologised over his remarks on Islam, saying he was ''deeply sorry'' about the reaction and that medieval quotes he used on holy war did not reflect his personal views.

UNI

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