Pakistani cleric offers rewards for killing cartoonists

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A Pakistani Muslim cleric and his followers offered rewards amounting to over $1 million for anyone who killed Danish cartoonists who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that have enraged Muslims worldwide.

Maulana Yousef Qureshi, a cleric in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said he personally had offered to pay a bounty of 500,000 rupees ($8,400) during Friday prayers, and two of his congregation put up additional rewards of $1 million and one million rupees plus a car.

Qureshi repeated the offer at rally later in the city to protest against the cartoons.

"If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden and Zawahri we can also announce reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege of the holy Prophet," Qureshi told Reuters, referring to the al Qaeda leader and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri.

The cleric leads the congregation at the Mohabat mosque in the heart of Peshawar. The mosque is located on a street known for goldsmiths' shops.

Earlier this month a Taliban commander was reported as offering a bounty of 100 kg (220.5 lb) of gold to anyone who killed a cartoonist who drew the pictures.

The commander, Mullah Dadullah, also offered 5 kg of gold to anyone who killed a Danish, Norwegian or German soldier.

Protests over the cartoons have turned violent in several Pakistani cities this week and at least five people have died.

Some of the worst scenes were in Peshawar, the provincial capital of North West Frontier Province and a stronghold of Pakistan's Islamist opposition parties.

Bin Laden and Zawahri both carry $25 million rewards on their heads for their role in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed more than 3,000 people.

They are believed to be hiding somewhere in the tribal lands on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.