the taliban, to the clerics

Cleric offers reward to kill cartoonists
17 February

A Pakistani Muslim cleric and his followers have offered rewards amounting to over $ 1 million for killing the Danish cartoonists who drew caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that have enraged the Muslim world.

The cleric offered the bounty during Friday prayers as Muslim anger against the cartoons flared anew in parts of Asia. ...

"If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden and Zawahri, we can also announce reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege of the holy Prophet" ...

In the north western Pakistani city of Peshawar, cleric Maulana Yousef Qureshi said he had personally offered to pay a bounty of 500,000 rupees ($8400) to anyone who killed a Danish cartoonist, and two of his congregation put up additional rewards of $1 million and one million rupees plus a car.

"If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden and Zawahri, we can also announce reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege of the holy Prophet," Qureshi told Reuters, referring to the al Qaeda leader and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri. ...

Clinton, on a private visit to Pakistan, said he saw nothing wrong with Muslims around the world demonstrating in a peaceful way, but he feared a great opportunity to improve understanding had been squandered.

"This is not a time to burn bridges; this is a time to build them," he said, adding, "...I can tell you that most people are horrified that this much misunderstanding has occurred."

Chirac was blunt. "I am appalled by what happened as a result of the publications of these cartoons," Chirac told India Today news magazine which published an interview with him on Friday.

"I am, of course, in favour of the freedom of the press, which is a pillar of democracy. But I am equally for respecting everyone's sensibilities... So I deplore the situation," said Chirac, who visits India next week.
source

similar offer in recent days, reward, gold for cartoonist