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Violence Spreads Over Muhammad Caricatures ~ Now riots
Las Vegas Sun ^ | February 05, 2006 at 10:6:11 PST | ZEINA KARAM

Posted on 02/05/2006 11:28:07 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -

Thousands of Muslims rampaged Sunday in Beirut, setting fire to the Danish Embassy, burning Danish flags and lobbing stones at a Maronite Catholic church as violent protests over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad spread from neighboring Syria.

Troops fired bullets into the air and used tear gas and water cannons to push the crowds back after a small group of Islamic extremists tried to break through the security barrier outside the embassy. Flames and smoke billowed from the building. Security officials said at least 30 people were injured.

The Danish Foreign Ministry urged Danes to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, while Danes and Norwegians heeded a similar call in Syria, where violent protests broke out on Saturday.

"It is a critical situation and it is very serious," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said Sunday on Danish public radio.

Protesters also took to the streets by the thousands elsewhere in the Muslim world, a day after demonstrators in Syria charged security barriers outside the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus and sent the buildings up in flames.

Those attacks earned widespread condemnation from European nations and the U.S., which accused the Syrian government of backing the protests.

The Danish foreign minister said: "enough is enough."

"Now it has become more than a case about the drawings: Now there are forces that wants a confrontation between our cultures," Moeller said. "It is in no one's interest, neither them or us."

Syria blamed Denmark for the protests, criticizing the Scandinavian nation for refusing to apologize for the caricatures of Islam's holiest figure.

"(Denmark's) government was able to avoid reaching this point ... simply through an apology" as requested by Arab and Muslim diplomats, state-run daily Al-Thawra said in an editorial Sunday.

"It is unjustifiable under any kind of personal freedoms to allow a person or a group to insult the beliefs of millions of Muslims," the paper said.

Anger has broken out across the Muslim world over 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that were first published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten in September and reprinted in European media and New Zealand in the past week.

One depicted the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. The paper said it had asked cartoonists to draw the pictures because the media was practicing self-censorship when it came to Muslim issues.

The drawings have touched a raw nerve in part because Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depictions of the Prophet Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry.

Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he personally disapproves of the caricatures and any attacks on religion - but insisted he cannot apologize on behalf of his country's independent press.

Iraqi Transport Minister Salam al-Maliki said his country has decided to cancel its contracts with Danish firms and reject any offers of reconstruction money from Copenhagen to protest the publication of the caricatures. The government had issued no official statement and the value of the transportation contracts was not available.

Iran also said it has recalled its ambassador to Denmark amid the controversy.

"Insulting the prophet was unacceptable, resentful, and a sign of barbarism," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, adding that Tehran planned to take further action.

Syria, Saudi Arabia and Libya have also recalled their ambassadors to Copenhagen in condemnation of the caricatures.

Lebanon's Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani denounced the violence and appealed for calm, accusing infiltrators of sowing the dissent to "harm the stability of Lebanon."

Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud denounced the violence, saying: "National unity should remain protected and consolidated." He warned against attempts to destabilize the country, and his government called for an emergency Cabinet meeting later Sunday.

In Beirut, protesters came by the busloads to rally outside the Danish Embassy, where they chanted, "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God!" Some 2,000 troops and riot police were deployed.

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said staff at the Danish Embassy had been evacuated two days ago.

The trouble threatened to rile sectarian tensions in Beirut when protesters began stoning St. Maroun Church, one of the city's main Maronite Catholic churches, and property in Ashrafieh, a Christian area. Sectarian tension is a sensitive issue in Lebanon, where Muslims and Christian fought a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Lebanon's Justice Minister Charles Rizk, a Christian, urged leaders to help end the violence. "What is the guilt of the citizens of Ashrafieh of caricatures that were published in Denmark? This sabotage should stop," Rizk said on LBC television.

In the Afghan city of Mihtarlam, some 3,000 demonstrators burned a Danish flag and demanded that the editors at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten be prosecuted for blasphemy, Gov. Sher Mohammed Safi said.

Some 1,000 people tried to march to the offices of the United Nations and other aid groups in Fayzabad. Police fired shots into the air to disperse them, officials said. Nobody was hurt.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed anger over the cartoons but said Danish troops and other citizens should feel safe in his country.

"It's not the responsibility of Danish troops, it's not the responsibility of Danish government, it's the free media. ... We must not hold the troops who are serving in Afghanistan responsible for this," he said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, students in uniform - age 13 and even younger - carried protest posters and shouted: "No to offending our prophet." Dozens of Palestinian gunmen also defaced the entrance to a French learning center and attacked a man who tried to protect the closed building in Nablus.

In Iraq, about 1,000 Sunni Muslims demonstrated outside a mosque in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi. A giant banner read: "Iraq must end political, diplomatic, cultural and economic relations with the European countries that supported the Danish insult against Prophet Muhammad and all Muslims."

Another 1,000 supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rallied in Amarah, denouncing Denmark, Israel and the United States and demanding that Danish and Norwegian diplomats be expelled.

More than 700 Muslims marched through Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, to protest the cartoons' publication in two New Zealand newspapers.

European leaders urged calm and respect - both for religion and freedom of the press.

"The violence now, particularly the burning of Danish missions abroad, is absolutely outrageous and totally unjustified, and what we want to see is this matter being calmed down," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in London, adding that the media must exercise its free speech privilege responsibly.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier pushed for intercultural dialogue.

"We all agree that words and deeds that insult or ridicule other religions or cultures do not contribute to mutual understanding," he said at a security conference in Germany. "Both freedom of the press ... and freedom of religion are great liberties - those who use them must use them with care."

--


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: beirut; lebanon; syria
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1 posted on 02/05/2006 11:28:08 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

2 posted on 02/05/2006 11:32:41 AM PST by Mount Athos
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

3 posted on 02/05/2006 11:33:37 AM PST by rickmichaels
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Well now the Arab streets are aflame.
Where are the voices of defense of free expression, the ACLU, the Hollywood left. Someone mentioned earlier that they bet that International ANSWR is involved in the muslim protests. I don't think I'd bet against that claim. We need to google some of the muslim signees to ANSWR and see what they are doing these days.


4 posted on 02/05/2006 11:34:53 AM PST by feedback doctor (Socialism, the opiate of liberals)
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To: Mount Athos

Airdrop a million copies of the cartoons over Lebanon and Syria!


5 posted on 02/05/2006 11:35:24 AM PST by Laserman
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To: All
Earlier thread from breaking news:

Beirut, Lebanon - Danish consulate on fire

6 posted on 02/05/2006 11:36:29 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Islam is incompatable with Western Civilisation.

I suggest western papers overwhelm them with mockery of the False-Prophet Mohammed (may he burn in hell), until they have a collective breakdown.


7 posted on 02/05/2006 11:38:14 AM PST by Hugin
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To: Mount Athos

8 posted on 02/05/2006 11:38:30 AM PST by MarMema (Buy Danish, support freedom)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

"Consider the following. If you say something negative about Joseph Smith or Brigham Young, the Mormons won’t threaten to kill you. If you malign Moses, Orthodox rabbis won’t issue a fatwah against you. If you insult Jesus, in a painting or play, you’re likely to get a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. It’s only the apostles of the Religion of Peace who are ready to whack you for looking cross-eyed at their beloved prophet."
—Don Feder, RELIGION OF PEACE WATCH, October 28, 2002


9 posted on 02/05/2006 11:39:23 AM PST by Reagan Man (Secure our borders;punish employers who hire illegals;stop all welfare to illegals)
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To: Hugin

"I suggest western papers overwhelm them with mockery of the False-Prophet Mohammed (may he burn in hell), until they have a collective breakdown."

I agree that this would be an excellent response!!


10 posted on 02/05/2006 11:40:32 AM PST by Laserman
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; All
Everything I have found about The War of the 12 Cartoons ( links, blogs, quips, quotes, aggravating pictures ) is located here- click the Pic, and scroll backwards:


11 posted on 02/05/2006 11:40:34 AM PST by backhoe (-30-)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Now it has become more than a case about the drawings

It never was about the cartoon. A hangnail or a wild hair would do if they want a reason.

12 posted on 02/05/2006 11:40:51 AM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

13 posted on 02/05/2006 11:41:23 AM PST by blueminnesota
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
"The violence now, particularly the burning of Danish missions abroad, is absolutely outrageous and totally unjustified, and what we want to see is this matter being calmed down," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in London, adding that the media must exercise its free speech privilege responsibly.

Of course in the USA we have a different Constitution, and don't have any right to protect us from offending views and pictures. Probably why we will survive Islam and Europe and England won't. - Tom


14 posted on 02/05/2006 11:43:26 AM PST by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Does anyone think the islamonuts will try staging protests or riots here in the U.S. or do you think they know what Americans would do to them? I for one wouldn't stand for it.

I am curious as to others views.

Go Steelers!


15 posted on 02/05/2006 11:48:50 AM PST by dis.kevin
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

As Admsmith pointed out on the Hal900 thread, the protesters were bussed in.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1572119/posts?page=9#9

That takes organization and money.


16 posted on 02/05/2006 11:59:27 AM PST by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: nuconvert

Definitely a planned event!


17 posted on 02/05/2006 12:03:51 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: nuconvert
From the article:

Those attacks earned widespread condemnation from European nations and the U.S., which accused the Syrian government of backing the protests.

The Danish foreign minister said: "enough is enough."

18 posted on 02/05/2006 12:05:37 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
There's something right about Denmark. On the other hand, I can't say much about the appeasers and spineless lickspittles in the European Foreign Ministries and our own State Department who don't stand up for the West's own values. Islam is the one subject no one much ever criticize, let alone caricature. Its list of moral atrocities would take an encyclopedia to catalogue. But hey, no one gets upset about that. What's the object of Muslim wrath? A bunch of infidel cartoons. As a religion, they have a deep inferiority complex as well as being morally inconsipicious. No one ever accused them of lacking subtlety in latching onto triffles to lynch in this world. After all, its just a cartoon. Human beings on the other hand, are just pawns to be blown up at random. I think that sums up the disconnect beautifully. And its not just Danes that are baffled by the reaction in the Islamic World.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

19 posted on 02/05/2006 12:06:44 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: dis.kevin

No, we most certainly would NOT stand for it here. No U.S. papers have published the cartoons, but apparently FoxNews showed the bomb-in-the-turban one on Brit Hume's show earlier, so who knows. They just might try it.

God I am so sick of this crap! I agree with the idea of spreading the cartoon images far and wide AND I think all apologies that have been issued should be retracted.


20 posted on 02/05/2006 12:07:23 PM PST by KJC1
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