‘Will Kill Rushdie,’ 50,000 Chant at Bangladesh Rally

DHAKA, Bangladesh — More than 50,000 Muslims left mosques and marched throughout the capital Friday before gathering at the government’s headquarters to demand the death of author Salman Rushdie.

Marchers chanted “We will kill Rushdie!” and gathered near the Secretariat, the headquarters of the government.

Also Friday, about 3,000 Muslim fundamentalists in Sudan, some shouting “Down, down with Britain!” demanded that Sudan break relations with the British government, which has defended publication of Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses.”

Many Muslims find the book blasphemous because of its depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

Several countries, including Bangladesh and Malaysia, have banned the book, and Iran has offered $5.2 million to any Muslim who kills Rushdie, an Indian-born Briton of Muslim upbringing.