Danes, Muslims Debate Prophet Drawings

Muslim and Christian scholars and clerics agreed at a conference Friday that the West and Islam must use dialogue to repair ties frayed by the crisis over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

However, the Muslim panelists accused the Danish government of mishandling the crisis and said it must apologize to the Muslim world if wants an Arab boycott on Danish goods to be lifted.

"We request an official apology from your government to the Muslim nation and to the Muslims in Denmark," said Tariq al-Suweidan, an Islamic scholar from Kuwait. He also demanded that the European Union enact a law that forbids insulting religious figures.

Despite massive Muslim protests and in some cases violent attacks on Danish embassies, the center-right government in Copenhagen has refused to apologize, saying it cannot be held responsible for the actions of an independent newspaper.

The cartoons were published in Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in September, and have since been reprinted by other Western media.

"We cannot give you what you want," said Eyvind Vesselbo, a lawmaker belonging to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Liberal Party, referring to al-Suweidan's demand for an apology. Instead, Vesselbo said he could offer friendship and dialogue.

Amr Khaled, a popular Egyptian preacher, said Danish people and their government should reach out to Muslim countries with initiatives to promote small businesses or health care, for example. He told the crowd, including 50 youths from Denmark and Muslim countries, that it was time for moderate forces to resolve the conflict.

"The reasonable among us must be heard and our voices must come out clearer than the voices of the extremists," said Khaled, who is known for his youthful style and his sermons applying Islam to day-to-day modern life.

But amid the calls for reconciliation, a rift over free speech was revealed between some Danes in the audience and the Muslim panelists.

"Although I may find something insulting, I must tolerate it, because I don't believe in an absolute truth," said Stephan Schou, 27, a Liberal Party member.

Schou said the two sides should accept they would never see eye to eye on some issues: "The only consensus we can reach is to agree to disagree."

Habib al-Jaffry, an Islamic scholar from Yemen, said the issue was not about freedom of speech but about different standards applied to Muslims than other groups.

Freedom of speech has been used as an excuse," he said. "Freedom of speech shouldn't be absolute."

Al-Suweidan suggested European countries apply double standards by banning anti-Semitic speech but allowing the Muhammad cartoons, one of which showed the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb. Islamic law is interpreted to prohibit any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad for fear it could lead to idolatry.

"In the West they underestimate how deep Muhammad is in the heart of every Muslim," al-Suweidan said. "We demand respect, like you have given the Jews respect. ... Be fair, that is all we're asking."

Bishop Karsten Nissen, of the Western Denmark city of Viborg, noted Denmark has no law singling out hate speech against Jews. Danish law prohibits blasphemous and racist speech against all religious and ethnic groups, he said.

Nissen said he understood that Muslims were insulted by the drawings, but added Muslim countries do not always respect other religions.

"In my heart I am in agony and distress when I look at the freedom of religion in the Muslim world," he said.

Jyllands-Posten has apologized for offending Muslims, but stands by its decision to print the drawings, citing freedom of speech.