SHORT TAKES : BBC Forced to Give Police Film

A judge ordered the British Broadcasting Corp. today to hand police news film of a meeting at which Muslim demonstrators called for the death of writer Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie has been in hiding since last February when Iran’s late spiritual leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, accused him of blaspheming against Islam in his novel “The Satanic Verses” and ordered his death.

Police say they are investigating last month’s meeting in the northern English city of Manchester at which Muslim leader Kalim Siddiqui asked for a vote on whether Rushdie should die.

The BBC initially refused to give police the film, in which viewers saw parts of Siddiqui’s speech and members of the audience raise their hands in support of the “death sentence.” It said the refusal was a matter of policy.

A BBC spokesman said after today’s decision: “The judge viewed a section of the tape and ruled it was relevant. He ordered it to be handed over and the BBC will comply.”