Post by Moses on Feb 6, 2006 8:58:32 GMT -5
Annan Says Violence Over Cartoons Isn't Justified (Update4)
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said violence triggered by the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad isn't justified and called on Muslims to refrain from more attacks on Nordic diplomatic missions after protests in Lebanon, Syria and other Islamic nations.
Crowds yesterday set fire to the Danish consulate in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, a day after the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria's capital, Damascus, were attacked. Protests have taken place in recent days in countries including Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population.
``Such resentment cannot justify violence, least of all when directed at people who have no responsibility for, or control over, the publications in question,'' Annan said yesterday in a statement on the United Nations' Web site.
The 12 cartoons were first published in September in Denmark's largest broadsheet, Jyllands-Posten. They were reprinted in Norway, and last week appeared in newspapers and magazines in countries such as France, Germany Switzerland, Austria and Italy, where editors said they were defending freedom of expression.
Lebanon's Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa said yesterday he resigned after the violence at the consulate in the Christian area of Beirut, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
``Elements that had infiltrated into the ranks of the demonstrators broke through security shields,'' the BBC cited Sabaa as saying. ``The one remaining option was an order to shoot, but I was not prepared to order the troops to shoot Lebanese citizens.'' About 1,200 security personnel and 1,600soldiers were deployed to control yesterday's demonstration, he said.
Threats, Violence
Annan said, while he shared the distress felt by many at the publication of the cartoons, he is ``alarmed by the threats and violence, including the attacks on embassies that have occurred in Syria and Lebanon and other countries.''
Carsten Juste, editor-in-chief at Aarhus, Denmark-based Jyllands-Posten, apologized for offending Muslims in a statement on the newspaper's Web site Jan. 31. One of the cartoons depicts Islam's prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb in place of a turban.
Muslims should accept the apology given by the newspaper and act in the ``true spirit of a religion famed for its values of mercy and compassion,'' Annan said in his statement, according to the UN. Governments should ``do everything they can to reduce tensions and avoid actions or statements that might increase it,'' Annan said.
Image of Islam
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, representing 57 Muslim countries and based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in a statement yesterday described the ``regrettable and deplorable'' attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus as detrimental to the image of Islam, Agence France-Presse reported.
The Muslim Council of Britain yesterday condemned demonstrations in London in recent days in which a minority of protesters carried placards glorifying the July 7 London bombings and Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.
Denmark's government advised its nationals to leave Lebanon after the attack on its Beirut consulate.
In other protests yesterday, demonstrators threw eggs at police in Istanbul for preventing them reaching the Danish embassy, Turkey's NTV said. In the West Bank city of Nablus, gunmen stormed the French cultural centre, AFP reported.
About 1,000 people protested in eastern Afghanistan calling for the government of President Hamid Karzai to expel Danish soldiers with the international peacekeeping force in the country led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, AFP said. Denmark has about 170 soldiers with the 9,000-strong force, it said.
Pakistan's Protest
Pakistan's government at the weekend summoned the Danish ambassador to protest the publishing of the cartoons, according to a government statement. Envoys from countries where the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers were also summoned.
``Freedom of expression is not a license to offend the sentiments and disparage the values and beliefs of other people,'' the government said in a statement.
Indonesian Muslims staged a peaceful protest today in front of the Danish embassy in Jakarta asking for an apology from the Danish prime minister. In Afghanistan, a protester was shot and killed when police opened fire at demonstrators. In the eastern province of Laghman, AFP said. Four other people were injured.
In Malaysia, the Sarawak Tribune newspaper apologized for reprinting one of the cartoons and the editor on duty at the time resigned, the English-language daily said yesterday.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net;
Jonas Bergman in Stockholm at jbergman@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 6, 2006 06:57 EST