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Muslims issue fatwa over gay Jesus play

British Muslims have issued a fatwa condemning playwright Terence McNally to death for depicting Jesus Christ as a homosexual in his play Corpus Christi.

Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad said McNally would face arrest and execution if he travelled to Muslim countries.

''This should only happen on their own soil. We do not believe in political assassination but obviously he would face capital punishment,'' he told reporters.

He issued the warning after copies of the fatwa were passed to the audience outside the London theatre where the play is being staged.

The British media today reported that McNally had been alerted about the fatwa by the police at his New York home.

Muslims regard Jesus as a ''messenger of god'' and that is why the play was declared blasphemous by the Al-Muhajiroun group and Sheikh Muhammed, judge of the Shari'ah court.

The London-based cleric criticised Christian churches for not taking stronger action against the play, which sparked protests when staged in New York and at the Edinburgh Festival.

''The Church of England has neglected the honour of the Virgin Mary and Jesus,'' he told reporters. ''It is blasphemy for them not to take action.''

The play shows a gay Jesus betrayed by his lover Judas and crucified as ''king of the queers.'' Britain has a Muslim community of several million people, many of whom are immigrants from former British colonies or their descendants.

UNI

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