UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for calm in a row over
cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that has seen protests erupt across
the Muslim world.
Mr Annan says freedom of speech comes with responsibility
|
Mr Annan said he shared the distress of Muslims upset by
the cartoons but urged them to accept an apology from the Danish paper
that first published them.
The paper's editor has told the BBC his intention was to show Muslims they were not exempt from satire.
Islamic tradition regards any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous.
'Great damage'
Kofi Annan said he was "distressed and concerned at the
whole affair" and appealed for no-one to "inflame an already difficult
situation".
 |
CARTOON ROW
30 Sept: Danish paper publishes cartoons
20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM
10 Jan: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons
26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador
30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU's Gaza office demanding apology
31 Jan: Danish paper apologises
1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons
|
"I share the distress of the Muslim friends who feel that the cartoon offends their religion," he said.
"I also respect the right of freedom of speech. But of
course freedom of speech is never absolute. It entails responsibility
and judgment."
Fleming Rose, editor of the newspaper that first
published the pictures, and the Muslim cleric who has led protests in
Scandinavia, Ahmed Abu Laban, met on BBC News 24's Hardtalk programme.
Mr Rose, of Jyllands-Posten, told the programme Denmark
had a "tradition of satire and humour" which included satirising anyone
from the royal family to Jesus Christ.
"By publishing these cartoons, we are saying to the Muslim community in Denmark 'we treat you as we treat everybody else'."
Ahmed Abu Laban admitted violent protests would cause "great damage" to Islam.
He added: "I swear in the name of God, I will use
everything in my capacity that no violence should come and spread to
Scandinavia."
'Distress'
Fresh Muslim protests flared on Friday in a number of
countries over the cartoons, one of which shows the Prophet wearing a
headdress shaped like a bomb.
Another shows him saying that paradise is running short of virgins for suicide bombers.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told
diplomats from Muslim countries at a meeting in Copenhagen he was
"distressed" at the offence caused, but could not apologise over the
actions of a newspaper.
There have been protests in countries including Indonesia, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.
However, other European newspapers have now printed the cartoons.
French daily Liberation and Belgian paper De Standaard
published them, along with the Irish Daily Star, which called Muslim
protests "entirely unwarranted and hateful". | 
