Pakistan condemns railways minister’s bounty on anti-Islam filmmaker
Pakistani Federal Railways Minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour has offered a $100,000 bounty for the murder of the filmmaker behind anti-Islam “Innocence of Muslims.”
Pakistan's government has denounced a minister's bounty for the filmmaker of now-infamous anti-Islam movie "Innocence of Muslims."
Saturday, railways minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour said he would give $100,000 to anyone who would kill Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, adding that he would kill the filmmaker with his bare hands if given the chance.
Shafqat Jalil, spokesman for Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, said the government rejected the minister's statements and that they were his personal sentiments.
More from GlobalPost: Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Pakistan minister, offers $100,000 bounty for anti-Islam filmmaker
“This is not government policy," the spokesman told Agence France Presse. "We completely dissociate (ourselves) from this."
The offer of a reward for Nakoula's death came just a day after 20 people died in violent clashes in Pakistan over the film.
Bilour's party, Awami National Party (ANP) is part of Pakistan's governing coalition, and said it would not be taking any action against the railway's minister for his statements, according to BBC News.
"He is not a member of the (ruling) PPP (Pakistan People's Party), he is an ANP politician and therefore the prime minister will speak to the head of the ANP to decide the next step," Jalil told BBC News. "They are not ruling out action against him but say he will stay in his post for now."
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