Free Republic

A HARDLINE cleric linked to Somalia's powerful Islamist movement has called for Muslims to "hunt down" and kill Pope Benedict XVI for his controversial comments about Islam. Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin urged Muslims to find the pontiff and punish him for insulting the Prophet Mohammed and Allah in a speech that he said was as offensive as author Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. "We urge you Muslims wherever you are to hunt down the Pope for his barbaric statements as you have pursued Salman Rushdie, the enemy of Allah who offended our religion," he said in Friday evening prayers....

The spiritual leader of Lebanon’s Sunnis, the Grand Mufti Sheik Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, said the pope’s remarks emanated either from "Ignorance and lack of knowledge or were deliberately intended to distort Islam." Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said “there should be no controversy; the pope has already explained his true intentions. The religious dialogue and the respect for every religion is a necessity, and religion doesn’t justify violence. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said of Benedict XVI: He is a great pope, with great intelligence. Right-wing politician Roberto Calderoli said “I ask myself some crazy member of the Left...

In case you are wondering this is an effigy of the Pope they are burning