 The "Alliance of Civilizations Conference," held in the Qatari capital on Saturday, issued a statement prohibiting acts of abuse against religions and called for respecting religious symbols.
| Sounds good, except that it conflicts fundamentally with the concept of a free press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and probably freedom from unreasonable search and siezure. |
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who arrived here earlier today to take part in the conference, read a statement on behalf of the conferees, expressing deep regret at the grave harm inflicted with the recently-published cartoons against Prophet Mohammed (PTUI PBUH), voiced sorrow at the victims who had fallen and damage inflicted in ensuing protests in Islamic countries.
| Kofi has no concept of what "freedom" actually is. And I have zippo sympathy for the dead rioters. |
The statement said participants in the conference pledged to adopt a "common strategy to prevent recurrence of the crisis of the cartoons," alluding to the caricatures that were published by some European newspapers, infuriating millions of Muslims throughout the world. The news conference was attended by the foreign ministers of Qatar, Turkey, Spain, the Secretary General of the Arab League and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The conference was aimed at promoting greater understanding between Muslim countries and Western societies, and was organized in response to an initiative by Turkey and Spain.
| You won't promote greater understanding between Muslim countries and the civilized world by pushing for blasphemy laws. |
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