Grand Mufti of Syria expresses regret over embassies incidents

The Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Ahmad Badruddin Hassoun expressed regret over the bad way in which some people exploited of means of expression to protest the publication by some European newspapers of offensive drawings of the Prophet Mohammad.

Hassoun said in a statement Saturday evening that "we feel sadness over what some people did driven by their emotions into a stage in which they impaired our dialogue with the Danish and Norwegian peoples."

The Grand Mufti pointed out that the Danish ambassador three days ago brought him an official letter from the Danish prime Minister in which he apologized and expressed sorrow over what some Danish newspapers did.

He added that "we had already accepted the apology, and agreed that the Danish newspaper concerned would publish articles by some Moslems in Denmark on the noble attributes and traits of the Prophet Mohammad so that we don't reach the stage of conflict or lose friendship of some of our friends in Europe who support Arab rights."

He said "the protest march today had already kicked off to a beautiful and disciplined start to express their emotions in a civilized way following Friday noon prayers in which Moslem scholars talked about their love to the Prophet Mohammad, but unfortunately the march was turned by some rioters who don't know the language of dialogue with the others into damage and arson."

The Grand Mufti of the Republic stressed that "we have never expressed our anger this way before. We have always believed that the dialogue with the others can be achieved by teaching not by killing, harming or burning them."