US condemns bounty offer by Bilour

Pakistan

US condemns bounty offer by Bilour

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The US has Ghulam Ahmad Bilour's $100,000 bounty for the death of a maker of an anti-Islam video.

24 September,2012 06:59 pm

The condemnation by a US State Department official follows a statement by a spokesman for the Pakistani Prime Minister disassociating his government over Bilours offer relating to the anti-Islam video that has triggered widespread protests in the Muslim world, including Pakistan where several people were killed and injured.Talking to BBC, a US State Department official said that President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had already termed the video as offensive, disgusting, and reprehensible -- but that is no justification for violence, and it is important for responsible leaders to stand up and speak out against violence.Therefore we find Mr. Bilours announcement is inflammatory and inappropriate. We note that the prime ministers office has dissociated itself from his comments., the official stated.It is worth mentioning here that Federal Minister for Railways and ANP leader Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour on Saturday announced a bounty for the death of maker of blasphemous film.Bilour stated I will pay whoever kills the makers of this video $100,000. If someone else makes other similar blasphemous material in the future, I will also pay his killers $100,000.Earlier, US newspaper The New York Times had reported a top aide to Bilour as saying subsequently that the minister was trying to diffuse frustration and anger in the streets in Pakistan.