Various countries and international organizations appealed for
calm over the growing controversy about cartoons of the Prophet
Mohammad on Monday.
The issue has centered on 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet
Mohammad, which had initially been published in a Danish daily last
September, and which were reprinted recently in several other
European papers.
The publications sparked an uproar in the Islamic world, as any
depiction of the prophet, favorable or otherwise, is considered
blasphemous by most Muslims.
Violent protests have erupted in Syria and Lebanon, where angry
demonstrators torched Danish and Norwegian missions in their
countries.
In Tehran, capital of Iran, hundreds of angry protestors threw
stones and firebombs at the Danish embassy on Monday, hours after a
similar attack on the Austrian embassy.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "Indignation
in the Islamic world was quite a predictable reaction." But in some
countries, the anger was expressed through "unacceptable acts of
vandalism against foreign diplomatic missions."
It is now important to unify the efforts of those who act for
tolerance and those who aim to establish a broad-based dialogue and
partnership between civilizations, the statement said.
The President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, said
freedom of expression must avoid any insult.
"The European Union upholds the values on which it was founded.
Freedom of expression is one of those values, but this must be
within the boundaries of respect for the religious beliefs and
cultural sensitivities of others," Borrell said in a statement.
Borrell condemned the use of violence and incitement to violence
against EU property and citizens.
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Britain and France also condemned the "unjustifiable" attacks on
European embassies in Damascus and Beirut.
"The Government understood the offense caused by the cartoons
depicting the Prophet and, of course, regrets that this had
happened," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement,
adding, "nothing could justify the violence aimed at European
embassies or at the country of Denmark."
French President Jacques Chirac, in a phone conversation with
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, "condemned acts of
violence aimed at Danes and Danish representatives overseas, and
voiced his solidarity with Denmark," said Chirac's spokesman for
the French presidency, Jerome Bonnafont.
The French president "called for full light to be shed on this
violence and recalled that, under international law, local
governments are responsible for the safety of foreign persons and
goods," he said.
In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said
his country intends to work towards heading off the violence over
the publication of the cartoons.
Also on Monday, the Copenhagen Post reported Danish Foreign
Minister Per Stig Moeller calling upon all sides involved in the
caricature conflict to use dialogue to resolve the situation.
At a press conference in Copenhagen, Moeller emphasized that the
escalating crisis about the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad
extends beyond Denmark now, and the situation was no longer
something that Denmark alone could control.
Radio Sweden reported on Monday that Swedish Foreign Minister
Laila Freivalds called on the European Union and the Arab world to
act together to head off further violence over the cartoon row.
Speaking to Swedish Television News, Freivalds said, "(We need)a
statement, to stand together to say that this conflict does not
promote our common interests and does not reflect the situation we
are in, where we are trying to develop a closer cooperation between
these lands."
Meanwhile, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that the
Foreign Ministry has stepped up security at Norwegian embassies in
several Muslim countries.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on national
television that Norway would file a formal complaint with the
United Nations and claim compensation from the Syrian government,
after Syrian police failed to prevent an angry mob from storming
the Norwegian embassy on Saturday.
In Finland, about 200 Muslims held demonstrations against the
publication of the caricatures.
Also on Monday, thousands of Egyptian students protested against
the cartoons, the official MENA news agency reported.
In Afghanistan, three protestors have been killed over the last
two days in demonstrations against the alleged blasphemy of Islam's
Prophet.
For the Turkish part, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul called for
restraint and no protest against publication of the
caricatures.
"Turkey respects freedom of the press, but press freedom does
not give the right to write or draw anything without limit," Gul
said.
He cautioned that the situation could grow out of control as
angry protestors in Syria and Lebanon set fire to the diplomatic
missions of Denmark whose press first published the cartoons.
"Turkey is exerting great efforts to secure more dialogue and
cooperation between different religions and communities," Gul
added.
(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2006)
