2 Pakistanis offer $200K to kill anti-Muslim filmmaker

Pakistani Sunni Muslims gather at a protest rally against an anti-Islam film, in Lahore, September 23, 2012.

/ Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

(CBS News) While the Pakistani government made attempts to cool popular protests ignited by the dissemination of a video mocking the Prophet Mohammad, a Pakistani official and a cleric are offering bounties for the death of the creator of "Innocence of Muslims."

On Saturday Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Pakistan's Minister for Railways, announced he would personally pay $100,000 to anyone who kills the film's director.

Shortly after announcing the bounty, however, a spokesman for Pakistan's foreign minister tried to distance the government from it. The spokesperson said that it was "representative of Mr. Bilour's personal views and had nothing to do with the official policy of the Government of Pakistan."

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a 55-year-old California-based Coptic Christian, is the man federal authorities have said is behind the film, though he has only acknowledged publicly that he was involved in management and logistics. He has a criminal record that includes drug and check fraud convictions, and he has been in hiding since leaving his suburban Los Angeles home last weekend.

Bilour referred to Nakoula as a "blasphemer" and "sinner" who has "spoken nonsense" about Mohammad.

"I invite the Taliban brothers and the al Qaeda brothers that they should join me in this sacred mission.

Bilour also said that, if the U.S. government were to turn the filmmaker over to him, "I am willing to kill him with my own hands, even if I am hanged for it later on."

The Pakistani government officialy said it "absolutely disassociated" itself from the bounty offer, Sky News reports.

Yet on Sunday, Mufti Mohammad Yousuf Kasuri, chief of Jamiat Ahle Hadith Party for Sindh Province, added his own reward of approximately $105,000 "for the one who will hand exemplary punishment to the blasphemer."

The cleric made the announcement of the 10-million-rupee reward during a rally in Karachi against the film.

[FP1970]

What we need to keep us safe are more grovelling apologies from Obama and Clinton for the actions of an independent film-maker. That should keep us safe, right? Wrong!
Freedom of speech IS or security. BTW, if national gov'ts are so concerned about our security, they might consider cancelling the terrorist importation program known as "immigration". Was 09/11 not enough of a wake-up call about the immigration/terrorist threat?

[GeorgeKafantaris]

It is becoming increasingly clear that Islam has been intertwined with government for so long that Muslims cannot fathom their countries without it.
Though this may be difficult for the rest of us to understand, we should still recognize it as a distinguishing fact of most Muslim countries.
But it is their fact not ours. We should not set our clock back centuries to accommodate the Muslim mindset or lack of understanding of basic concepts of individual freedom.
It is they who should bring their ideas up to speed and in pace with the modern world.
The Muslim leaders should, therefore, continue to educate their citizens on the ways of other countries; that people elsewhere are free from their government to worship the God they want, and are also free to offend the God that others worship; that this is how it must be if religious freedom is to have any meaning.
Moreover, Muslim leaders should explain that forcing others to honor Prophet Mohamed can be deemed as forcing them to some extent to adopt the Muslim religion itself. As others cannot impose foreign religious etiquette on Muslims, neither should they impose their reverence of Prophet Mohamed.
It is imperative that Muslims learn the workings of individual freedoms so that they can harmoniously play their rightful role in the 21st Century. Reading the First Amendment might be a good place to start:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

[tmittelstaed]

What Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, and Railw Mufti Mohammad Yousuf Kasuri, have done is offer a contract for a hit, which is illegal. Thus both are criminals and I am expecting the Pakistani government to place both of them under arrest.

If that does not happen then I expect the US to send in the Seals and do it for Pakistan.

[Scimajor]

"Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Pakistan's Minister for Railways, announced he would personally pay $100,000 to anyone who kills the film's director."

"That shalt kill anyone who ticks you off. "

Hmmm, don't remember that one. Errrr, maybe the whole commandment thingy do isn't the muslim gig?

[vinvin1999]

what a shame the author knows nothing about islam. if he did , he could only describe the movie as factually accurate. FAIL DAVID MORGAN, FAIL

[rksharma-2009]

These kind of statements are OK, but attacking our Embassy, NOT OK. Statements like this just show what kind of people we are dealing with, and perhaps over a time, they can be fixed. But when they go attack our Embassies for someone stupidity, they cross a line that needs to be addressed with spanking with drones.

[komodo55]

These Muslims seem to have an unshakable belief that they are the rightous and God is on their side. Given that, have they never asked themselves why then, they have been resigned to living in such squalid, stinking cesspools, while the rest of us are living in clean, comfortable western countries?

[talkin2u924]

It is savagery and inhuman for civilized people to condone murder. It is outrageous that the U.S government does not publicly "scream bloody murder" over this. For civilized men with power in government to call for the murder of another person is insane and barbaric.

[Solarrays247]

Many nations around the world thought it was savagery and inhumane for the United States to invade Iraq, too. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi's lost their lives during that war! Over 4000 of our military shed their blood on that foreign soil! And for what? For what?

We must all look in the mirror at ourselves before calling others insane and barbaric!

[Scimajor]

"Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi's lost their lives..."

Source please. You're making that number up. Sorry to be a fact checker.

[BsPoppy]

It's on I will pay $1 for each lying pos imam spouting hatred and threats against the US. $1 for the "mothers" that get paid for their coward boys and girls that strap on bombs to kill innocents. $.50 for Abinajad and $.25 for the assatola. Hamas and Hezbulla should be worth about a penny...not worth a drone the EPA will have to be in charge of cleanup. As for the madrasah's spouting ignorance worthy of the middle ages...well I think we need to go Biblical on those bad boys. i will have plenty of money left so if it quacks like a duck....

[Solarrays247]

The primary message of the Christian religion is to spread it all over the world, also. It was the Christians who massacred millions of Native Americans in the Americas; forcing them to practice Christianity and abandoning their native beliefs!

You're no better than the war mongers among the militant Islamic extremists!

In the meantime, peaceful Muslims and Christians are reaching out to each other all over the world!

Wish it were possible to ship all of you war mongers off to an island in the middle of the Pacific and let you all have at it! A$$holes!

[JoeMontana44]

@bryanerichardson is actually correct. If you actually study the Koran, you'll find out that every Muslim is at an everlasting Jihad with the non-Muslim world and has a religious obligation, as a good Muslim, to convert the entire world to Islam, by any way, including by the sword. They are permitted to make false agreements with "the infidels", just to conquer them later. And this is their wonderful "peaceful" religion.

[MrMac59]

I think the movie maker should not of gone into hiding knowing what could happen on the other hand a government official putting a bounty on someone calls for an equal response, the United States should issue a death warrant for Ghulam Ahmad Bilour for crimes against humanity.