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| Europe |
| Scandinavia now fears attacks on embassies |
| 2006-02-06 |
| Nordic countries last night feared that attacks on their foreign missions could spread across the Middle East after demonstrators burned down the Danish consulate in Beirut in protest at the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The incident followed attacks in Damascus, Syria's capital, on Saturday by mobs on the embassies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. All the Nordic countries sharply condemned the attacks at the weekend and demanded security guarantees for their diplomatic staff in the Middle East. Per Stig MÞller, the Danish foreign minister, said yesterday: "It is totally unacceptable that governments do not secure embassies in their territory." Jens Stoltenberg, Norway's prime minister, said: "What happened in Syria is completely unacceptable. We are going to ask Syria for compensation and we will take the matter up at the United Nations." The US also condemned the attacks. "The government of Syria's failure to provide protection to diplomatic premises, in the face of warnings that violence was planned, is inexcusable," the White House said. A crowd of several thousand demonstrators in Beirut set the Danish consulate alight, angered by the publication of the drawings of the Prophet Mohammed in Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, in September, and the failure of the Danish government to address Muslim concerns over the cartoons. The pictures, considered blasphemous by Islam, later appeared in a Norwegian newspaper, making Norway also a target for Muslim radicals. Reports from Beirut yesterday said cars were overturned and people were hurling rocks at nearby buildings, in spite of the deployment of 2,000troops and riot police. Security forces arrested 174 protesters, of whom they claimed almost half were Syrians, while Hassan al-Sabaa, Lebanon's interior minister resigned last night. Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's prime minister, said: "Those who are committing these acts have nothing to do with Islam or with Lebanon." Denmark said it was withdrawing most of its diplomatic staff from Syria, while recommending Danes leave the country. Norway was likewise cutting its diplomatic personnel in Syria. "We contacted the Syrian foreign ministry last Thursday, requesting additional security measures, but despite this the crowd of demonstrators was able to cross the distance of some 5km from the Danish to the Norwegian embassy on Saturday," the Norwegian embassy said. The Iraqi transport ministry said yesterday it had frozen all contracts with the Danish and Norwegian governments. Saturday's protests in Damascus followed reports that text messages were circulating citing plans by demonstrators in Copenhagen to burn Korans. Danish police at the weekend denied any such gatherings had occurred. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 It's more like To Kill A Mockingbird. The mockingbird is innocent, defenseless, and only sings for everyone's pleasure. It is wrong to pick on and threaten the mockingbird, for it is defenselees and means no harm. |
| Posted by: Jake 2006-02-06 22:51 |
| #2 Kind of reminds me of that scene from "Die Hard" when McClain yells out to the police sergeant, "Welcome to the party, pal!" So, thought your tolerance and multiculturalism would keep Osama nice and happy? Guess again. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2006-02-06 14:58 |
| #1 I'd been shocked---except I lost my ability to be shocked after 10 years of Euro support for Paleo terorism. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-02-06 02:33 |