Dec 28, 2007 7:34 pm US/Pacific
SoCal Muslims Remember Bhutto At Prayer Service
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
More than 1,000 Southern California Muslims gathered Friday in Los Angeles for a special prayer service to mourn assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and condemn violence done in the name of Islam.
Maher Hathout of the Islamic Center of Southern California focused his weekly address on Bhutto and 27 others killed in Thursday's attack.
Hathout said "Islam does not glorify death, just read the Koran. It is a call to life, not death."
The crowd swelled into overflow rooms and the parking lot as the center's usual Friday prayer service included a funeral prayer for Bhutto, who was laid to rest earlier in the day in Garhi Khuda Baksh, Pakistan.
Pakistan's government Friday asserted that al-Qaida was behind the assassination.
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