 Jordan's King Abdullah II said Wednesday he supported efforts to secure a UN resolution against attacks on Islam, its prophets and other religions amid global Muslim anger over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
| If such a thing were to pass we should immediately withdraw from the UN, never to return. |
The king "stressed that Jordan strongly backs suggestions aimed at securing a decision in the UN General Assembly concerning the fight against offenses on Islam, the prophets and other religions," a court statement said. "The cartoons published in some European newspapers undermining the Prophet Mohammad cannot be justified under any pretext of freedom of expression," the king told visiting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
| Sure they can. That's precisely what's meant by freedom of expression, nothing less... |
He also urged the European Union and all European governments to "strive to put an end to such harmful activities that provoked the feelings of all Muslims," the statement added.
| Guess we'll find out how much of an authoritarian streak the Euros retain, huh? |
King Abdullah also warned against any attempts to "exploit the issue to sow hatred between religions," particularly after the wave of violence that swept Muslim countries after the cartoons were published. "It is important that the expression of anger and condemnation for what happened occur in such a way to reflect he truth about Islam which is a religion based on moderation," the king said.
| Your religion that's based on moderation seems to be awfully fond of unrestrained violence, doesn't it? And that was the original intent behind the cartoons. |
Javier Solana is in Jordan as part of a regional tour aimed at repairing ties strained by the Prophet Mohammad cartoons initially published in Denmark in September and later printed elsewhere in Europe. "I would like to express very clearly that the European Union people do respect the countries of this part of the world ... and don't want to offend anybody," Solana told a news conference.
| There's the whole problem in a nutshell. They don't want to offend anybody, and the Muslim world's determined to be offended. |
"It is our wish to (narrow) the bridges that should have never been damaged," he said. "I would like to repeat it: the respect for the people that belong to this land is total. The respect to any religion is total," Solana said.
| I don't see how he can talk with that much meal in his mouth. |
But he admitted that he could not "guarantee that everybody in the world is going to be full of common sense." UN officials in Geneva said on Tuesday that Muslim countries are pressing for a ban on religious intolerance to be part of the bedrock of a planned new United Nations human rights body.
| That wouldn't include anti-Semitism, of course. That's... ummm... something else. Kinda like the difference between terrorists and freedumb fighters. |
There have also been calls across the Muslim world for a separate UN resolution on respect for religions. |