http://www.jp.dk/english_news/artikel:aid=3526412/

Quote:

Afghan president looks beyond drawings

An official visit by Afghan president Hamid Karzai gets caught up in the storm over Jyllands-Posten's Mohammed drawings

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, meeting with the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in Copenhagen this weekend, chose to take a positive view of the increasingly volatile conflict over newspaper Jyllands-Posten's caricatures of the prophet Mohammed.
Karzai, in Europe to attend the World Economic Forum, was visiting Denmark to discuss the country's contribution to the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

During a press conference with Rasmussen on Sunday, Karzai criticised Jyllands-Posten's decision to print the 12 caricatures of Mohammed as a 'mistake'.

Nevertheless, he praised the newspaper for placing an open letter in Arabic on its website, stating that it was never its intention to offend anyone's faith.

'Let's look forward from now on. I hope that the press everywhere - in Denmark, in Afghanistan, in Muslim countries, and in non-Muslim countries - will be more respectful and responsible towards other cultures, religions, and views everywhere in the world,' Karzai said.

Karzai, in Denmark for two days before he travels on to London, said he appreciated the prime minister taking the time to discuss the matter with him.

'The prime minister was so kind as to speak with us about this. He said that the press - as we all know - is totally free in Denmark, and that the drawings in the press are not an expression of the Danish people's attitude. We in the Muslim world need to understand that,' Karzai said.




This man simply is the voice of reason in a culture that, when all cards are on the table, really has slowed down it's own social and political developement.

I've been meaning to ask you folks about something. The last couple of decades it has been the USA which has been the focus of Muslim animosity and anger. Now it's Denmark, are you enjoying the respite?



Racks be to MisterJLA