Saturday, March 08, 2008

Al-Jazeera: "deepest apologies" for Wafa Sultan's comments on Islam

Sending a strong message to perpetually outraged viewers: We're sorry. Don't kill us.

"Al Jazeera apology for guest remark," from Al-Jazeera:

Al Jazeera has apologised for "offensive" remarks made by a guest during a live debate about the reprinting of cartoons in Denmark said to insult Prophet Muhammad.

What, no "pbuh?" In a statement on Wednesday, Al Jazeera expressed its "deepest apologies"for comments made by Wafa Sultan, a Syrian-born US-based academic, which "offended Islam".

The comments were made during the Tuesday evening debate on the talk show "The Opposite Direction".

The statement did not say what offensive remarks had been made in the programme, which was moderated by Al Jazeera's Faisal al-Qassem.

Sultan has drawn strong criticism for her controversial views on how Islam needs to be reinterpreted to suit the modern world.

And such "insults" have been known to spark irrational rage like this:

Protests have raged across the Muslim world since several Danish newspapers recently reprinted a drawing featuring the prophet.

The cartoon, first published in early 2006, caused days of protests worldwide, including in Afghanistan, where 11 people were killed.

Al Jazeera is based in the Gulf state of Qatar.

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