Morsi Rejects Attacks on Islam but against Violence
Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi Thursday slammed "attacks" on the Muslim prophet Mohammed in a film on Islam that sparked an outcry in Egypt, while also stressing that he condemned violence.
"We Egyptians reject any kind of assault or insult against our prophet. I condemn and oppose all who... insult our prophet," Morsi, on an official visit to Brussels, said in remarks broadcast by Egyptian state television.
"(But) it is our duty to protect our guests and visitors from abroad... I call on everyone to take that into consideration, not to violate Egyptian law... not to assault embassies," he added.
Morsi also condemned the Tuesday attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, which claimed the lives of four American officials, including the ambassador.
"We condemn what happened in Benghazi," Morsi said.
"We all know that killing innocent people goes against Islam. The freedom to express opinions and demonstrate... are guaranteed but without attacks on private or public property, diplomatic missions or embassies," he continued.
Morsi said that he had spoken with U.S. President Barack Obama and told him that it was necessary to put in place "legal measures which will discourage those seeking to damage relations... between the Egyptian and American people."
In Cairo, police used tear gas on Thursday as they clashed with a stone- and bottle-throwing crowd protesting outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo over a film mocking Islam, witnesses and the interior ministry said.
Protests against the film were also held on Wednesday outside U.S. missions in Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. In Tunis, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of several hundred.
The low-budget movie, "Innocence of Muslims" in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.
It pokes fun at the Prophet Mohammed and touches on themes of pedophilia and homosexuality, while showing him sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as "the first Muslim animal."
Mystery has deepened over the film, with conflicting accounts from backers and promoters but no one owning up to having actually directed it.
Source: Agence France Presse
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