Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday called on Arab and Islamic countries to take a decisive stand on the issue of cartoons denigrating the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).Religion and free speech clash sometimes.
“It’s certainly insulting to all Muslims,” Prince Naif told reporters about the 12 cartoons published by a Danish newspaper last September and reprinted in a Norwegian magazine in January. “Saudi Arabia’s stand on this matter is very clear,” he said. The Saudi Cabinet had earlier denounced the sacrilegious cartoons.
Denmark has defended the Jyllands-Posten newspaper’s right to publish the cartoons that a Norwegian paper later ran. Muslims have reacted angrily, calling for goods boycotts and demanding an apology. Saudi Arabia has recalled its envoy from Denmark, Libya has closed its embassy, Kuwait said it would recall its ambassador and thousands of Palestinians marched in protest yesterday.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Saudi Minister Urges Muslim Stand on Cartoons
The Arab News reports:
