After Danish cartoon and German minister’s support Yemen calls for censorship [Archives:2008/1133/Front Page]

By: Sarah Wolff
SANA'A, Feb 27 ) Yemen's most prominent governmental figures want an international law against the defamation of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and other religious figures, after the reprinting of an infamous cartoon in Denmark and a call to reprint it again throughout Europe by Germany's Minister of the Interior.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar and Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi are asking for international cooperation to draft a law against mocking religious figures. Is unclear what organization or organizations would be able to effectively draft and enforce any such law.

These diplomatic steps are the fallout from the reprinting of the Danish cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) as a turbaned bomber on February 13 and yesterday's statement of support for the reprinting by German Minister of the Interior, Wolfgang Schaeuble.

The cartoon was reprinted in 17 Danish newspapers following the arrest of three Muslim men of North African origin who were accused of plotting to kill the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard. The cartoon, which ran in conjunction with 11 others in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper over two years ago, led to both peaceful and violent protests throughout the world.

“All European newspapers should print the [Mohammed] caricatures with the explanation, 'We also think they're pathetic, but the use of press freedom is no reason to resort to violence',” Schaeuble said in the German-language weekly, Die Zeit.

Yemen's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no comment on the Schaeuble's statement at press time, though Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi said that the official governmental position on the Danish reprinting is one of disappointment.

“We thought our Danish friends realized that freedom of expression has its limits,” said Al-Qirbi. “We are waiting for the Danish government's response.”

Some members of Parliament like Mansour Al-Zindani of the Islah party have called for a boycott of Danish products and asked the Minister of Industry and Trade, Yahya Al-Mutawakel, to create an embargo forbidding the import and export of Danish goods.

However, the government has not and likely will not call for an officially- sanctioned boycott.

Al-Qirbi suggested a United Nations resolution to would prohibit insulting religious figures from all faiths. He added that the decision to boycott Danish goods and services should be made by the Arab and Muslim world.

Between January 2007 and November 2007, Denmark exported goods worth a total of US $39.5 million to Yemen. The most common Danish product found in Yemen is canned milk, though Yemen also imports Danish agricultural products and chemicals.

The Yemeni government currently helps direct projects with the Danish Technical Advisory Office in Yemen, such as a Yemeni human rights awareness campaign with the Danish Institute and a Yemeni women's empowerment program with OXFAM.

The Danish government will spend approximately US $5.8 million on aid to Yemen this year, according to Hanne Fritzen from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Demark is ranked third out of 23 countries on the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), which monitors developed countries' financial support for global humanitarian aid, specifically in the developing world.

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If Yemen officially freezes its relationship with Denmark, it might also lose aid programs like these as well.

Additionally, representatives from the technical advisory office said that the governmental programs are on hold for the moment because they are awaiting the arrival of a new director in May. The office's staff expects to know how they will proceed with their scheduled programs later on in March and preferred not to comment any further until “everything calms down.” The staff was unsure of the impact the cartoon reprinting would have on their future.

The Danish Consulate's representative in Yemen, Vijay Kumar, noted that the demonstrations held in the country were on a smaller-scale than before, and said that Danish government hopes to mend its relationship with Yemen.

“The Danish government is doing all it can to contain and resolve the situation,” said Kumar.

Danish media is free of governmental influence and currently ranks within the top 10 in Reporters Without Borders' annual press freedom index. Yemen is ranked at 143 out of 169 countries.

Al-Iman University, a leading religious institution in Sana'a, will host delegations from the Islamic Parliament and the Arab Parliament next week to discuss how to improve the image of Islam in non-Muslim countries.

On Monday, Prime Minister Al-Mujawar spoke to a crowd hundreds of men at Al-Iman University about defending the Prophet Mohammed's (pbuh) reputation. There will be a similar lecture hosted by the Islamic party, Islah, for women this morning at the Sana'a Expo Center.

“The republication [of the cartoon] show the ignorance of those who attack religion,” said Mujawar. “Such behavior begets hatred and creates an unstable relationship between Islamic countries and other nations.”

Mujawar also said that the people who republished the cartoons were hiding behind the label of freedom of expression and that their true aim was to insult others.

Fadl Moqbal Mansour, the general manager of foreign trade for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that a boycott cannot issued unless there is a decree from the government.

However, Mansour is also the executive manager of the Consumer Protection Association, and says that his agency is asking consumers to boycott Danish goods. ” I will ask the consumers to find substitutions,” said Mansour.

Likewise, Al-Iman University recently distributed an updated list of Danish products to boycott to their all of their students.

Supermarkets like Al-Hoda and Shumaila Hari have not reported a drop in sales of Danish goods. The manager of Hoda Supermarket said that shoppers are still requesting Danish products, even though his store cancelled all orders from Denmark after the second publishing of the cartoon.

“We are disappointed at the consumer attitudes, because they are still asking for these goods,” he said.

Mohammed Nurdin, manager of Shumaila Hari supermarket, says that his store cancelled all pre-placed orders – mainly for milk and vegetable products -from Danish companies last Wednesday. The supermarket still has some Danish products for sale, such as Dairyland Danish cream, but common Danish imports like Lurpak butter were already gone from the shelves.
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