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Azhar, Vatican condemn cartoon reprint

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Written by News Editor

Friday, 29 February 2008

Officials from Al-Azhar and the Vatican on Wednesday condemned the reprinting of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed considered offensive to Muslims, in a sign of unity between the two bodies. Sheikh Abdel Fattah Alaam, chairman of Al-Azhar (Sunni Islam's main seat of learning) Dialogue Committee and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, wrapped up a two-day meeting in Cairo on dialogue between the monotheistic religions. In a joint statement, they "strongly condemned the republication of offensive cartoons and the rising number of attacks against Islam and its Prophet." They stressed that "freedom of expression (should) not be taken as a pretext for offending religions, convictions, religious symbols and everything that is considered sacred." At least 17 Danish dailies last week reprinted a drawing featuring the Prophet Mohammed's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse. The caricature was one of several drawings that sparked violent protests that culminated in early 2006 with the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut, and the deaths of dozens of people in Nigeria. The Danish papers re-published the caricature a day after police in Denmark foiled an alleged plot to murder the cartoonist, describing the move as a gesture of solidarity with him and a blow in defense of freedom of expression. Islam forbids any physical representation of the Prophet Mohammed. Top Detentions Meanwhile, a Copenhagen appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling to remand in custody two Tunisians suspected of plotting to kill one of the Danish cartoonists who satirized Prophet Mohammed. The two, legal residents of Denmark who are aged 25 and 36, had been ordered held in custody until March 12. They have claimed innocence and their lawyers said they would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Denmark ordered the pair expelled without trial, on the ground they pose a threat to national security. A growing number of politicians, legal experts and human rights associations have questioned the government's decision to expel the two without due process. A third suspect who was also arrested, a Dane of Moroccan origin, was released shortly after the police raid. According to Denmark's intelligence agency PET, the three were planning to murder Kurt Westergaard, 73, one of 12 cartoonists who drew caricatures of the prophet for the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005. Westergaard's cartoon was considered the most controversial, featuring the prophet's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.

 

 

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