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The top U.S. envoy for public diplomacy on Saturday said
caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed were "offensive" and
"blasphemous" but condemned violent Muslim protests that
have killed at least 29 people across the Islamic world.
Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes also used Muslim anger
over the drawings to underline the need for Arab leaders
create free societies and denounce terrorism as an
"international pariah."
"Many American newspapers chose not to reprint the cartoons
depicting the Prophet because they recognize they are deeply
offensive, even blasphemous to the precious convictions of
our Muslim friends and neighbors," Hughes said at the
U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar.
She declared that protesters had been wrong to endanger
lives and damage property and blamed some governments for
inciting rage among their people.
In the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks on the United
States, she said, extremists were using the cartoon
controversy to ignite a clash of civilizations.
What's more, said Hughes, the longtime associated of U.S.
President George W. Bush, the terror strikes in the United
States had forced the American administration to understand
that it would not have security inside its borders without
ensuring liberty and justice abroad.
"In the aftermath of September 11, America came to recognize
that there will be no real security, no lasting peace, until
America stands with those brave voices crying out for
liberty and justice throughout the world," Hughes said.
After the conference, Hughes will visit two pan-Arab
telecasting giants in the Persian Gulf: Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera.
Both broadcasters beam broad coverage of the Middle East and
have drawn the wrath of the Bush Administration for
reporting events from the Arab point of view. They have far
more viewers than Alhurra, an Arabic language service
launched by the United States to counter what are seen as
negative reports by Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera.
The turmoil over the prophet cartoons is expected to be a
major topic in both visits with Arab anger still at the
boil.
In her speech, Hughes highlighted recent dramatic changes in
the Middle East and Islamic world, including Syria's
withdrawal of troops from Lebanon after more than two
decades, municipal elections in Saudi Arabia and women
gaining the right to vote in Kuwait.
"Throughout the world today, brave leaders...are challenging
the status quo, advocating change, seeking to unleash that
most powerful force of human freedom to make their societies
more just, more honest, more open, more accountable," said
Hughes.
She also noted the sweeping victory in Palestinian
legislative election by the militant Hamas group, saying
Washington had not changed its policy that calls for a
two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. She
said Palestinian freedom and independence required Hamas to
"renounce violence and terror (and) recognize Israel's right
to exist."
Hamas has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings
and other armed attacks and has so far refused to recognize
the Jewish state's right to exist or to agree that it would
negotiate with its leaders.
Hughes' message to the Islamic world on Saturday was clear -
terrorism must end.
"We know from their own statements and writings that the
extremists' real agenda is take over one or more of the
proud nation states in the Islamic world and impose a
super-state in which violent extremists would dictate the
fate of millions," she said.
"We must do for terror what was done to slavery and make it
an international pariah." |
