Title: The Koranic Fish Caper
Time/date: Thu, May 18, 2006 at 6:19:45 pm

We have civil war in Gaza, North Korea threatening to light off a long-range ballistic missile, Iran threatening nuclear holocaust, and now, on top of all that, the Koranic tuna has been stolen, pilfered right out from under the noses of Islamic experts trying to determine if it was a hoax or a genuine, gill-breathing, very tasty when broiled or barbecued, sign from the Almighty. (Hat tip: Killian Bundy.)

A fish with markings that resembled a Koranic text has disappeared from the Kenyan Fisheries Department in Mombasa.

The tuna fish, which had provoked intense interest from Muslims, was apparently stolen by people posing as National Museum officials.

The theft was discovered when the real official from the museum, based at Fort Jesus in Mombasa, came to get the fish.

The fish was being studied to find out if the Arabic inscription “You are the best provider” was natural or a hoax.

Sceptics say the writing was the work of someone who caught the fish and then threw it back into the sea. But others say this would be impossible, and local imams are said to have been talking in the mosques about the fish. ...

Officials from the museum and the country’s fisheries department have launched a low-profile search for the stolen fish, fearing possible anger from Muslims if they hear it has been stolen.

But we’ll always have this picture, sure to inspire learned treatises for decades: