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Ihsanoglu said the UN General
Assembly would be asked to "pass a resolution banning attacks on
religious beliefs."
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CAIRO, January 30, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies)
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Arab League,
the Muslim world's two main political bodies, are seeking a UN resolution,
backed by possible sanctions, to protect religions following the
publication of cartoons depicting and ridiculing Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH).
"Consultations are currently taking place at the highest
level between Arab countries and the OIC to ask the UN to adopt a binding
resolution banning contempt of religious beliefs and providing for
sanctions to be imposed on contravening countries or institutions,"
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, OIC's secretary general, told reporters in Cairo on
Sunday, January 29, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He said the UN General Assembly would be asked to "pass a
resolution banning attacks on religious beliefs."
The deputy secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Ben
Helli, confirmed that contacts were under way for such a proposal to be
made to the United Nations.
Twelve drawings depicting Prophet Muhammad in different
settings appeared in Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's mass-circulation
daily, on September 30.
One of the drawings depicted a man assumed to be the prophet
as wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.
The cartoons were reprinted in a Norwegian magazine earlier
this month just to add insult into injury.
The drawings triggered a diplomatic crisis and massive
popular protests across the Muslim world.
Embassy Closed
With Muslim political and popular anger showing no
sign of abating, Libya said Sunday it was closing its embassy in Denmark
in protest against the publication of the caricatures.
"In light of the attacks against Prophet Muhammad and
the silence of the Danish authorities, Libya has decided to close down its
diplomatic representation in Copenhagen," the Foreign Ministry announced
in a statement run by the official Jana news agency.
The statement added that Libya would take "retaliatory
economic measures against Denmark."
Muslim wrath has spread rapidly in the Middle East
with Gulf retailers pulling Danish products off their shelves and
protestors gathering outside Danish embassies.
Syria and Bahrain were the latest Arab countries to
join the chorus.
"Syria calls on the Danish government to take the
necessary measures to punish the culprits. The dialogue of civilizations
is based on mutual respect," said an official quoted by the official
Syrian news agency on Sunday.
The Bahraini cabinet, at a meeting on Sunday,
condemned the cartoons "which are a deliberate attack against the glorious
Prophet Muhammad and have angered Muslims the world over."
Saudi Arabia has already recalled its ambassador to
Denmark in protest at the Danish government's position on the publication
of the offensive cartoons.
Adamant
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"The Danish government and the
Danish nation as such can not be held responsible for what is
published in independent media," Rasmussen said.
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Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on
Sunday his government could not act against the satirical cartoons,
reported Reuters.
"The government can in no way influence the media. And
the Danish government and the Danish nation as such can not be held
responsible for what is published in independent media," he
insisted.
Jyllands-Posten
had not intended to insult Muslims when it published the drawings, said
the premier, referring to an editorial on the paper's Web site in Danish
and Arabic.
"We are sorry the matter has reached these proportions
and repeat that we had no intention to offend anyone, and that we as the
rest of the Danish society respect freedom of religion," the newspaper's
editor-in-chief Carsten Juste said in the editorial.
According to Reuters, the newspaper has not apologized
for publishing the drawings, which have caused widespread anger among
Muslims around the world.
A majority of Danes believe their government and media
should not apologize for the jibes.
A poll for Danish Radio by the Epinion research
institute published Saturday showed that 79 percent of Danes surveyed said
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen should not apologize on Denmark's
behalf, 18 percent said he should and three percent were
undecided.
