Iraq condemns anti-Islam film with protests in major provinces
- Jamal
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E-mail Xinhua, September 13, 2012
Iraq condemns anti-Islam film with protests in major provinces
BAGHDAD, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government and the parliament on Thursday condemned anti-Islam film that has also ignited protests in several Iraqi provinces.
"The repeated insult to the religious sanctities by suspicious individuals and groups deserve the severest condemnation, particularly, the recent film which is devoid of any value but the abuse of Muslim sanctities and noble values," Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a statement issued by his office.
He said that the natural response to such acts should be by " cooperation between the followers of all (monotheistic) religions to prevent circulation of such suspicious ideas and refrain from resorting to violence and to show the principles of Islam and its values of civilization," the statement said.
"The freedom of expression should not be an excuse to practice abuses against the religious sanctities," it said.
The Iraqi parliament, the Council of Representatives, also condemned the anti-Islam film as well as the incident of killing the U.S. ambassador in Libya.
"The Iraqi Council of Representatives condemns insulting Prophet Mohammed, and calls on the U.S. Congress to intervene and stop the film and prevent its selling in the markets," the parliament said in a statement.
"We also call on all Iraqis to exercise the highest levels of self-restraint while expressing their protests," it said.
The parliament also condemned the killing of the American ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, when hundreds of protesters, angered by an alleged U.S.-made movie that insults Prophet Mohammed, broke into the U.S. consulate building in Benghazi on Tuesday night and set ablaze the building.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets in the mainly Shiite provinces of Najaf, Karbala, Diyala and Wasit, after the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called earlier for protests against the anti-Islam film.
The protesters shouted slogans against the United States and Israel, while others raised banners demanding the Muslim governments across the world to close the U.S. embassies and to boycott the U.S. and Israeli goods.
The anti-Islam film also triggered protests and violence in several Muslim countries across the world, including Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen and Morocco. Enditem
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