http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C02%5C15%5Cstory_15-2-2006_pg1_4
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
EU tries to defuse cartoon row
CAIRO: The European Unions foreign policy chief Javier Solana took his efforts to defuse the crisis over the publication in Europe of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to Egypt on Tuesday on the second leg of a fence-mending tour. After meeting President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Solana told reporters of his profound desire to recuperate relations between the EU and the Muslim world. Solana said he discussed with Mubarak means to ensure religious symbols can be protected. Such steps could materialise through various mechanisms, and maybe inside the new human rights commission created in the UN, he said. Solana also met Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi of Al-Azhar University. Solana came to present an apology and we thank him for that... If an apology isnt enough, what else do you want? he told reporters. Commonwealth chief Don McKinnon said in New Delhi that the controversy stirred by the cartoons is a reminder that freedom of expression has its natural limits. The people responsible totally misread what could emerge from this, he said. He said that the reaction to cartoons may have become excessive. I am a Christian. I would not like to see a similar cartoon with Jesus Christ. It would not bring me to bomb or burn anything... I am not sure it would justify me doing what others have done, he said. afp