Agora

March 17, 2006

Danish Imam Abu Laban: Invasion put back 12 years

This is rich..
From this article in Jyllands-Posten today:

When we are talking about integration - the full meaning of the word, where Moslems feel welcome and respected in the community - then it is my estimate that it will take 12 years of hard work to get the EU member countries to accept the idea of showing respect to the symbols of Islam.

Al-Asadi: It’s not my Prophet in those Cartoons

Mohammed al-Asadi gave this interview which was published today, to the Danish newspaper Information’s correspondent in Cairo. He was released on bail February 22, following international pressure. Al-Asadi is still in good health and managed on March 10 to leave Yemen to attend a journalists’ conference. Contrary to some reports he is facing the death penalty as this article makes clear. He intends to return to Yemen to fight the good fight.
See below the article for relevant links to resources on the al-Asadi trial.

It’s not my Prophet

“I don’t regret printing those cartoons. I was defending the Prophet, I was defending Islam against those who wish to use the religion to create conflicts and maintain their grip on power,” says Mohammed al-Asadi - the editor in chief of The Yemen Observer who is now on trial for his life for having printed three of the Danish Mohammed cartoons.

By Rune Lykkeberg

The Friday after he was released from jail, he went to pray at the Mosque. Mohammed al-Asadi had become a known face in Yemen: He had been presented as a criminal on national TV and in government-friendly newspapers. He was also a known face outside of Yemen: Newsweek did a telephone interview with him in prison where they called him a “martyr for the free press” and BBC World has told his story. This Friday Mohammed al-Asadi didn’t wish to be recognised. All he wanted to do was to go to Friday Prayers, so he walked towards a Mosque in a part of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, where he doesn’t usually go:
(more…)

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