Muslims across Asia vented their anger yesterday over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed as a leading politician blamed Western nations for a "huge chasm" between the West and Islam.
The protests over the drawings first published in a Danish newspaper showed no sign of easing, but there was no repeat of the deadly violence that has so far left 13 people dead worldwide in rallies against the cartoons.
In Malaysia, where Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was hosting an international conference on Islam, between 2,000 and 3,000 protesters marched on the Danish embassy chanting "God is great!"
PHOTO: AP
"There is definitely something rotten in the state of Denmark," said Hatta Ramli from the opposition Pan-Malaysia Islamic party.
Abdullah told Muslim leaders and academics that Western nations wanted to control the world's oil and gas, and blamed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the establishment of Israel, for a rift with the West.
"They think Osama bin Laden speaks for the religion and its followers. Islam and Muslims are linked to all that is negative and backward," Abdullah said.
"The demonization of Islam and the vilification of Muslims, there is no denying, is widespread within mainstream Western society," he said, adding that there was a "huge chasm that has emerged between the West and Islam."
Meanwhile nearly 20,000 people took to the streets to protest the cartoons in Bangladesh, where Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called for an apology for the "extremely arrogant" drawings.
"We have firm faith in freedom of speech ... but all should remain conscious about their responsibility so this freedom does not hurt anyone's sentiment, faith [and] dignity," she said.
Some 4,000 demonstrators took to the streets of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, marching from a mosque in the center of the city to the main Abpara commercial center under heavy police surveillance.
"Crush Denmark, crush America," the protesters chanted as they torched an effigy of US President George W. Bush.
One protester was injured in another demonstration in the northwestern city of Peshawar when he was hit by a teargas shell, and smaller rallies were held in the cities of Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Multan.
In neighboring India, thousands of Muslims shouting "Denmark Die, Die!" burnt Danish flags in the streets of New Delhi after prayers at the country's largest mosque. Protesters spat on giant Danish flags which were spread on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Jyllands-Posten editor who commissioned cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed has been sent on holiday after suggesting he would print Iranian cartoons of the Holocaust.
"The editors have told Flemming Rose to take a vacation because no one can understand the kind of pressure he has been under," Jyllands-Posten editor Carsten Juste told the Berlingske Tidende newspaper.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
RSS