Solapur, India
Ten people were killed in rioting this week after Muslims took to the streets to protest the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s statements that the prophet Mohammed was “a violent man” and “a terrorist.” Falwell rushed to apologize for the statements, which he made on the CBS program 60 Minutes. “I intended no disrespect to any sincere, law-abiding Muslim,” Falwell said. A few Muslim clerics had called for Falwell to be killed, but after his apology they said he deserved forgiveness. “A person courageous enough to apologize for his errors is worthy of praise,” said Ayatollah Hussein Mousavi Tabrizi, a top cleric in Iran. Falwell, a Baptist televangelist, last year said that God had permitted the Sept. 11 attacks as a punishment for America’s tolerance of abortion and homosexuality.
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