Iran backed calls from other Muslim and world leaders for an end to violent protests over the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, urging calm, amid demonstrations that have left at least 45 people dead in the Muslim world over the past month.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, on a visit to EU headquarters on Monday, said that he and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged better dialogue between the Muslim world and the West over respect and tolerance.
"We accepted to cooperate with each other to calm down the situation, not to offend the values, religious values in particular from one side, and freedom of expression from the other side -- some kind of balance," Mottaki told reporters. "We should try to cool down the situation. We do not support any violence."
PHOTO: EPA
Solana said his visit last week to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and other Muslim nations to mend fences "was making headway."
Pope Benedict XVI also tried to soothe the tensions on Monday, saying religious symbols must be respected but violence can never be justified.
Mottaki added that freedom of expression must be exercised with sensitivity and with respect for others' values and beliefs.
Mottaki called on EU governments and media outlets "to take initiatives" preventing such cartoons from being published again to avoid further protest.
"We are all working, and we hope the press also will try to play their role and their responsibility," Mottaki said.
"We are facing ... angry Muslims all around the world. We have to try our best to avoid any violence," he said. "This is what we are trying to do in Iran ... So many of our policemen were attacked by angry people on the streets."
In Copenhagen, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller warned that al-Qaeda terrorists were exploiting the outrage over the drawings and condemned a Pakistani cleric who last Friday offered a US$1 million bounty for killing one of the cartoonists.
He called the reward "insane" and tantamount to terrorism.
"When money is put on the cartoonists' heads, then terror is also being used," Moeller said. "It's incitement to murder. Murder is also banned by the Koran."
Moeller noted that protests against the cartoons have been tapering off in many Arab countries, while escalating in Pakistan and Turkey.
"It's the extremist forces that wish to keep it going," he told reporters in Copenhagen. "There is no doubt that all extremists will exploit the situation. Al-Qaeda, too, will use it and fan the fire."
Mottaki said European governments were being hypocritical in their respect for freedom of expression, pointing to the example of Holocaust deniers, who he said were being put in jail for expressing their opinions.
"When we are talking about the freedom of expression ... it is very strange to see some European authors, some European members of parties are kicked out from their post or their position because they are making or creating some doubt about some part of some historical happening," Mottaki said.
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
RSS