AlJazera.net
Saturday 18 February 2006, 22:20 Makka Time, 19:20 GMT
A
US-Islamic forum seeking to find common ground between the United
States and the Muslim world has opened in Qatar with Muslim anger
against the West at boiling point.
Karen Hughes, the United States' top image-maker abroad and a close
adviser to George Bush, the US president, addressed the gathering in
Doha on Saturday amid fury over the publication in the European
press of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad and the broadcast of new
images of US prisoner abuse in Iraq.
She reiterated US concern about the threat posed by Iran to regional
stability and the need for Palestinian election winner Hamas to
recognise Israel while urging regional leaders to deepen democracy
in their own countries and to work more closely with the United
States to combat terrorism.
"We must do for terror what was done to slavery and make it an
international pariah," she said.
Better understanding
"If we truly desire to reach a better understanding of each other,
if we truly want our dialogue to produce results, we have to stop
demonising each other and replace hate with hope."
Hughes said that although many US newspapers chose not to reprint
the prophet cartoons recognising "they are deeply offensive, even
blasphemous to the precious convictions of our Muslim friends",
nothing justified violent protests, which claimed the lives of at
least 11 people in Libya on Friday.
"As we discuss these often difficult issues, we must not allow the
extremes to define us," said Hughes as she urged governments and
journalists alike to speak out against anti-Semitic and
anti-Christian sentiments and to seek greater freedom of expression
in the region.
"The challenge for leaders in this region is to listen to their
people's call for greater freedom, allow them to form political
parties, let them gather and speak more freely, give them access to
newsprint so they can run their own papers."
The Doha gathering was opened by Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al
Thani, Qatar's foreign minister.
"We must try very hard to avoid provocation and ensure the respect
of all beliefs and religious sanctities," he said in a reference to
the cartoons row.
Significant gathering
Earlier, Abdullah al-Rumaihi, the Qatari assistant foreign minister,
told reporters that this year's gathering might go further than
previous ones by discussing the establishment of a "council for
Islamic-US relations".
Despite the fact that the cartoons controversy started in Europe,
not in the United States, "one of the biggest challenges in
international policy today is the growing tension between the United
States and Islamic societies", al-Rumaihi said.
Participants in the three-day gathering include Amina Wadud, a
professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University who
earned the wrath of some religious leaders last year when she took
on the role traditionally performed by a male imam and led an
Islamic prayer service in New York.
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary-general of the Organisation of
the Islamic Conference (OIC), Benazir Bhutto, the ex-Pakistani prime
minister, and the leaders of Muslim minorities in several Western
countries are among the 700 people from 38 nations expected
to attend the forum's fourth edition.
