Pakistan "deplores” honour for Rushdie

Pakistan deplored on Monday Britain's decision to award a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses outraged many Muslims around the world. Rushdie was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in Queen Elizabeth's birthday honours list published on Saturday. Talking to reporters in Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the decision to honour Rushdie was insensitive to the sentiments of Muslims.