Pope s apology fails to stem Muslim anger
CAIRO: Egyptian lawmakers on Monday demanded diplomatic ties with the Vatican be suspended in protest at Pope Benedict XVI s use of a medieval quotation describing Islam as evil and inhuman. The pope must offer direct and unequivocal apologies, said a statement issued after a meeting of the Egyptian parliament s foreign affairs and religious committees. The statement urged Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to recall the Egyptian ambassador to the Vatican and expel the apostolic nuncio from Cairo should the pope fail to offer a satisfactory apology. The leader of the world s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics said Sunday he was deeply sorry for the outrage caused by his remarks last week in Germany in which he quoted a text that criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed. However, Egypt s parliamentary majority leader Abdel Ahad Gamal Eddin argued the problem had not been the response to the pope s comments but the remarks themselves and demanded a more straightforward apology. We want a real apology and not a half-hearted effort, said Gamal Eddin during the meeting, criticizing the bad faith of a man who is supposed to be supremely wise.
Pope Benedict XVI s personal apology for criticizing Islam failed to stem the anger of hardline Muslims on Monday despite calls for calm from Islamic and Western leaders. Hundreds of angry demonstrators burned an effigy of the pope in the southern port city of Basra, while Al-Qaeda pledged a jihad (holy struggle) until the servant of the cross (the Pope), and the West, are defeated. Iran was unmoved by Sunday s apology, saying it was not abject enough and called on the 79-year-old pontiff to admit he had made a mistake. These explanations were necessary but not sufficient. He needs to say more clearly that what he said was an error and correct it, Tehran government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said. The Basra protesters, who burned German and American flags, said the pope s remarks had insulted Islam and called for him to be tried by an international court. Around 100 hardliners rallied outside the Holy See s mission in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, waving a banner depicting the Vatican as an axis of Satan. The mood was caught by Iran s supreme leader Khamenei, who said the pope s remarks were the latest links in a chain of a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy aimed at creating conflict between religions. An Al-Qaeda statement posted on the Internet on Monday threatened to smash the cross. We say to the servant of the cross: wait for defeat … We say to infidels and tyrants: wait for what will afflict you, it said. We will smash the cross, said the statement attributed to the Mujahedeen consultative council, continuing to posit a choice between Islam or death. Other armed groups in Iraq – Jaish Al-Mujahedeen (the Mujahedeen s Army), Asaeb Al-Iraq Al-Jihadiya (League of Jihadists in Iraq) and Ansar al-Sunna (Partisans of the Precepts of the Prophet) – threatened the Vatican with reprisals. In a personal apology on Sunday, the leader of the world s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics said he was deeply sorry for the offense caused by his remarks made in Germany Tuesday in which he quoted an obscure medieval text that criticized some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as evil and inhuman. The Vatican meanwhile launched a diplomatic offensive to explain to Muslim countries the pope s position on Islam. Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone told the Corriere della Sera that Vatican ambassadors had been asked to explain to political and religious authorities in Muslim countries the full text of the pope s speech, which heretofore had been taken out of context and heavily manipulated . Jordan praised the pope for quickly expressing his regret over his remarks, but said more steps were needed to contain Muslim anger. Meanwhile, newspapers in the Gulf continued to criticize the pontiff, with one Saudi daily saying his remarks were beating the drums of war for the American far-right. The European Commission condemned disproportionate reactions to the speech, saying that violence struck at one of the EU s chief ideals. French President Jacques Chirac warned against anything that increases tensions between peoples or religions. We must avoid any confusion between Islam, which is of course a respected and respectable religion, and radical Islamism which is a totally different form of behavior and which is of a political nature, he said. In Britain the head of the worldwide Anglican church urged calm over the pope s remarks and said they needed to be judged against his entire record, where he has spoken very positively about dialogue.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams also noted that there are elements in Islam that can be used to justify violence, just as there are in Christianity and Judaism.
Mohammed Habib, a senior member of Egypt s opposition Muslim Brotherhood, told AFP they considered the apology a retraction of the pope s statement. In India, the powerful All India Muslim Personal Law Board based in the northern city of Lucknow called for an end to protests against the Vatican. But in some quarters, Muslim anger appeared likely to simmer through the week after calls by an Egyptian-born Islamic scholar for followers of the faith to hold a day of anger on Friday against the pope s remarks. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Sunni Muslim, said on Al-Jazeera television that he considered the pope had not apologised on Sunday and called on Muslims to hold a day of peaceful anger on Friday, the last day of collective prayer before the start of Ramadan. Agencies
