Rice Is Faulting Syria, Iran for Stoking Riots

Eli Lake, The New York Sun:

President Bush yesterday urged Arab and Muslim leaders to put a stop to the violence that has already led to the burning of three Danish embassies in the Middle East, while Secretary of State Rice accused Syria and Iran of inflaming populations about a series of cartoons depicting Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper in September.

The reaction from America yesterday struck a new tone in the public diplomacy over the cartoons. Only last week the State Department spokesman called anti-Muslim images "unacceptable." The Danish Embassy here has been emphasizing the existence of a blasphemy law in Denmark, adding that anyone who would burn a Koran in Copenhagen could be jailed for hate speech, according to Denmark's deputy chief of mission in Cairo, Christian Gronbech-Jensen. In Johannesburg, the high court ruled that newspapers may not publish the 12 cartoons depicting Muhammad that were first run in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.Even yesterday, Mr. Bush said, "With freedom comes the responsibility to be thoughtful about others."

But the defensive posture from the West is starting to shift. Yesterday, after meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, Mr. Bush said that America was a tolerant nation that respected its free press. "I call upon the governments around the world to stop the violence, to be respectful, to protect property, protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are serving their countries overseas." King Abdullah called the violent protests raging throughout the Islamic world "unacceptable." READ MORE

Secretary of State Rice was tougher. "I don't have any doubt that given the control of the Syrian government in Syria, given the control of the Iranian government, which, by the way, hasn't even hidden its hand in this, that Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes," she said standing next to the new Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. "And the world ought to call them on it."

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has openly praised the rioting in his country. On state-run radio on Tuesday, he said the drawings published in September were a "conspiracy by Zionists who were angry because of the victory of Hamas." He said that on the same day that Afghan authorities shot four protesters dead in Kabul. Meanwhile protests have raged throughout the Middle East and Europe. The supermarkets here in Cairo are now advertising that their shelves are free of Danish products.

Denmark's embassy here resembles a fortress. The blocks leading up to the entrance of the building where it is housed are now blocked off by Egyptian riot police. One of the men standing guard at the embassy who asked to remain anonymous said, "I don't approve of these cartoons, but this is my job."

Yesterday Mr. Gronbech-Jensen said that his embassy has issued instructions to Danish citizens in Egypt to keep a low profile. "It's definitely not easy being a Dane right now," he said. But the diplomat also praised Egypt's security services for their cooperation in the safety of his embassy. "In terms of security, the authorities have been helpful and cooperative."

Mr. Gronbech-Jensen said that he has had to fend off many misperceptions about the 12 cartoons. To start, there have been a spate of what appeared to be coordinated text messages, sent to people's cell phones, claiming that Denmark's government had encouraged the burning of the Koran or had intended to publish a revised version of the Islamic holy book.

"We cannot promise people that no one in Denmark would ever burn the Koran. But we try to explain that anyone who does this will be dealt with by the law," the diplomat said. Mr. Gronbech-Jensen said he has also told Arab diplomats of a lawsuit in Denmark from a local Muslim group being brought under his country's antiquated blasphemy laws. The last time that statute was invoked in Denmark was in the late 1930s against a Nazi sympathizer for defaming Jews.

While the furor of the cartoons did not attract international attention until late last month, the issue has been simmering here for a while. Mr. Gronbech-Jensen said that since December, he has had many meetings with envoys from the Arab League. In December the Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement calling on President Mubarak to recall Egypt's ambassador from Copenhagen.

A member of the Muslim Brotherhood's office of Islamic Guidance, Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Alkhateeb, writes on the group's Arabic Web site, "Overlooking such stabs is worse than the act itself, the Umma's duty, governors or governed, is to rise at once, and revolt in defense of their prophet, by ending relations with these countries from which these offenses come, expelling their representatives, and shutting down their embassies."