Arab FMs in Damascus
Photo: AP
Geert Wilders
Photo: AP
Arab, Muslim leaders denounce anti-Islam film by Dutch filmmaker
'Offenses against our Arab and Islamic nations under the banner of freedom of expression are derogatory and defamatory and go against all human values,' Sudanese president tells Damascus summit. Egyptian FM: Film humiliates Islam
DAMASCUS, Syria - Arab and Islamic leaders on Saturday denounced a Dutch film that portrays Islam as a ticking time bomb aimed at the West, demanding international laws to prevent insults to religions.
'Grave Consequences'
Ban Ki-moon calls far-right lawmaker's movie 'offensively anti-Islamic,' Iran and Bangladesh warn movie could cause grave consequences, while Pakistan protests to Dutch ambassador
The 15-minute film entitled "Fitna," or "ordeal" in Arabic, by Dutch anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders has brought condemnations from Muslim capitals and street protests in Pakistan after it was posted on a Web site late Thursday.
The film came on the heels of the republishing in Danish papers of a cartoon of Islam's Prophet Muhammad that Muslims view as insulting, depicting him as violent.
In his speech to the opening of an Arab summit in Damascus, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir called on Muslims to "challenge those who insult" the prophet and proposed "a binding international charter" that calls for the respect of religious and spiritual beliefs.
"The offenses against our Arab and Islamic nations under the banner of freedom of expression are derogatory and defamatory and go against all human values," al-Bashir said.
In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called Wilders' film "a humiliation" to Islam.
'Film offended Muslim sentiments'
The Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Conference said the film was intended to fuel hatred of Islam and "incite disturbances, conflicts and to threaten the security and stability of the world."
"It is essential that in every country laws are created against works such as those produced by this Dutch politician and other fanatic groups that encourage violence and hatred by insulting religions and misusing freedom of speech," the 56-member grouping of Islamic nations said in a statement.
The OIC's secretary-general, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, said the cartoons and the film only increase anti-Islam sentiments in the West at a critical time.
Speaking at the Damascus summit, Ihsanoglu said the movie reflects a wider and increasing "phenomenon in the West discriminating against Islam and Muslims."
"I would like to stress at this summit the importance of cooperation at the Arab and Muslim level for quick action to stop this ill-intentioned campaign," he said.
Ihsanoglu, however, praised the Dutch government's stance distancing itself from Wilder's movie. "We appreciate its clear position in which it stressed it has nothing to do with this work against Islam and Muslims," he said.
Hundreds of Muslims have demonstrated in Pakistan over the film and the country's Foreign Ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to deliver an official complaint against what it called a "defamatory film which deeply offended the sentiments of Muslims all over the world."
