Pakistani says got fatwa from Mecca to kill preacher

KARACHI, Sep 18 (Reuters) A Pakistani businessman who shot dead a Muslim preacher claimed the killing was blessed by a religious scholar in Saudi Arabia as the preacher was committing blasphemy, a police official said today.

Nadeem Ahmed was killed while delivering a sermon at his home in the southern city of Karachi on August 31.

The businessman, Shoaib Khan, later surrendered and showed no remorse over the murder, police official Mohammad Khalid said.

''Shoaib has been charged with murder and claims that Nadeem used to insult Islamic teachings and the Holy Prophet Mohammad in his sermons,'' Khalid told Reuters.

''Shoaib says he recently went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he got a fatwa (edict) from a religious scholar that it was okay to kill Nadeem as his sermons were blasphemous,'' Khalid said.

''Shoaib has no regrets over the murder and is content with himself. He says he has done it for Islam,'' he added.

Blasphemy is against the law in Muslim Pakistan and carries the death sentence. Cases are relatively common but death sentences have never been carried out, usually because higher courts rule that there was a lack of evidence.

While death sentences have not been carried out, there are occasionally instances of enraged mobs attacking and killing people accused of blasphemy, including desecration of the Koran.

The dead cleric ran his own missionary organisation, and police are checking which sect it belonged to in case the crime was motivated by sectarian hatred.

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