a new bill to abolish the death penalty in Mali...

a new bill to abolish the death penalty in Mali is sparking hot debate in the National Assembly amid protests from Islamic groups who say abolishing it goes against Islamic principles. "Our recommendations focus on maintaining the death penalty in conformity with Islamic principles," said Boubacar Camara, an Imam and a member of the High Islamic Council of Mali (HCIM). "The Islamic Council refuses to endorse a legal decision that is fundamentally opposed to what God and His Prophet have decreed." "The death penalty is defined in Islam as a legitimate act of retaliation, as enacted by God in the Koran," he told IRIN. "According to the Koran it allows one to preserve human life and social stability. Its abolition would open the way to widespread insecurity, anarchy, and general social instability." Under the Koran the death penalty is a "required and unequivocal requirement" in criminal cases involving deliberate attacks on human life, according to Camara.