responsibility of the ummat,” the Muslim nation as a whole and that his execution “is a collective failure of Pakistani Muslims”.

Other members in the group questioned why the imam is speaking about a convicted murderer in such glowing terms, said the BBC, while another argued that Qadri took the law into his own hands and that he should not be made a hero for doing so.

The imam later clarified his messages had been taken out of context and that he was expressing his opposition to capital punishment, according to the BBC report.

Imam Maulana Habib Ur Rehman told the BBC, “The assassination of Salman Taseer is widely condemned. Whether I agree or disagree with the views he expressed, as an Imam and as a human being I express abhorrenceKABUL, Afghanistan — For the second time in less than a week, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has picked a high-profile fight with his American allies, in the midst of a grand council that he convened to support a long-term security agreement with the United States.

American officials reacted with anger and exasperation on Saturday after Mr. Karzai publicly accused American Special Forces troops of killing civilians in a raid on an Afghan home; American officials said it was an Afghan-led raid that killed only insurgents.

Moreover, Mr. Karzai’s aides continued to insist that even if the council, or loya jirga, ratified the bilateral security agreement with the United States, Mr. Karzai would not sign it until next year, after a presidential election to choose his successor, but before he