World Scene

Black goat slaughter aims to protect Pakistan's leader

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has a black goat slaughtered at his house almost every day to ward off "evil eyes" and protect him from "black magic", the Dawn newspaper reported yesterday.

A spokesman for the president said the goats were slaughtered as an act of Sadaqah - meaning "voluntary charity" in Islam whereby one gives out money or the meat of a slaughtered animal to the poor to win Allah's blessing and stave off misfortune.