Muslim leader: I want to hang the Pope

Muslim leader: I want to hang the Pope

Inflammatory: Hafiz Hussain Ahmed said he would 'hang the Pope' if he got his hands on him

A senior Muslim leader said he would hang the Pope if he got hold of him as hundreds of radicals gathered in rallies across Pakistan to protest at the pontiff's recent remarks.

"If I get hold of the pope, I will hang him," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior MMA leader, told protesters in Islamabad, who carried placards reading "Terrorist, extremist Pope be hanged!" and "Down with Muslims' enemies!"

Emotions have been high in this Islamic nation of 160 million since Pope Benedict XVI last week quoted a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of Islam's founder, Prophet Muhammad, as "evil and inhuman." He also quoted a text that referred to Islam as being spread "by the sword."

The Pope acknowledged that his remarks were open to misinterpretation, but insisted he had not intended to endorse a negative view of Islam and that the comments did not reflect his own opinions.

More than 500 supporters of a coalition of six Islamic parties, called Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA, demanded the pope's removal and accused him of supporting the policies of U.S. President George W. Bush.

In Karachi, another MMA leader, Ghafoor Ahmed, accused the pope of wanting to force "Christians and Muslims against each other." "We condemn the pope. We will not tolerate insulting remarks against Islam or our Prophet Muhammad," Ahmed said during a protest that gathered about 300 people.

Another 200 Islamists rallied in the eastern city of Lahore, while several dozen protested in Multan.

Thousands of Muslim worshippers staged anti-pope marches in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza on Friday, waving green Hamas banners and denouncing the pontiff as a coward.

Earlier in the week, protesters attacked seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza, causing little damage and no injuries.

At Islam's third holiest shrine, the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, hundreds of worshippers on Friday hoisted banners that read, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." The march ended peacefully.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Hamas supporters took to the streets after prayers, shouting slogans against the pope and waving Hamas flags. Raising their hands to the sky, the more than 2,000 protesters chanted: "We put up with hunger, detention and occupation, but we won't put up with the offending the prophet. We sacrifice our lives for you prophet."

Marching in the streets of Nablus, the protesters called the Pope a "coward and agent of the Americans." Anti-pope marches were also held in the West Bank town of Ramallah and in Gaza City.