Saudi Arabia condemns blasphemous caricatures in France
There was no comment from Saudi authorities regarding calls for boycotting French products
RIYADH (Web Desk) – Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned the French republication of blasphemous caricatures of the holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), rejecting any link between Islam and terrorism.
According to media reports, the kingdom said it “rejects any attempt to link Islam with terrorism, and condemns the blasphemous caricatures of the holy Prophet (PBUH).
Its government also called for “intellectual and cultural freedom to be a beacon of respect, tolerance and peace that rejects practices and acts which generate hatred, violence and extremism and are contrary to the values of coexistence,” a Saudi foreign ministry official said.
The official added that Riyadh condemned all acts of terrorism regardless of the perpetrators, in an apparent reference to the beheading of a teacher in Paris this month by a Muslim man angered by the use of caricatures of the holy Prophet (PBUH) in a class on free speech.
However, there was no comment from Saudi authorities regarding calls for boycotting French products over the anti-Islam insults.
French President Emmanuel Macron has sparked outrage across the Muslim world by accusing Muslims of “separatism” and describing Islam as a “a religion in crisis all over the world".
This coincided with a provocative move by Charlie Hebdo, a left-wing French magazine infamous for publishing anti-Islamic caricatures, which have drawn widespread anger and outrage across the Muslim world.
