GROZNY, February 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Chechen mufti called on international organizations Monday to take a tougher stand on the recent cartoon row, which sparked a wave of protests throughout the Muslim world.
Sultan Mirzayev urged the Council of Europe and the UN to pursue a more principled policy in relation to the scandal surrounding caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed republished in some European media, which had angered Muslims all over the world.
"Representatives of the Council of Europe and the UN should immediately intervene and assume a tougher position on the issue," Mirzayev said.
The mufti said Muslims' reaction to the cartoon republication was "fairly predictable."
He said he doubted whether the media that had published the controversial cartoons were guided just by the principles of freedom of the press.
"Islam bans any images of Prophet Mohammed and other prophets, including Jesus Christ, Moses and Abraham," Mirzayev said. "They are equally respected and worshipped by Muslims, and if the cartoons had depicted these prophets as well, the reaction would have been identical."
The mufti said the Danish authorities had been short-sighted in their actions and were now trying to cover up their shortfalls with freedom of expression and democratic values.
Mirzayev said the proposal by a Danish publisher to include the cartoons in textbooks could cause new alarm throughout the world.
"The entire world witnessed the reaction of Muslims to the publication of the images in newspapers, but still the Danish publishers are set to repeat this mistake," he said.
