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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Tuesday): The dozen insensitive and offensive  Danish  cartoons of Prophet Muhammad sparking  global outrage in the era of ICT and globalization  must be deplored by all right-thinking people in the world.

The ensuing and continuing  violence and deaths from the protests, with Lebanon having to apologise to Denmark for the burning of its consulate in Beirut,  have highlighted the urgent need for moderates from all faiths, governments,  countries and international organizations  to come forward to restore calm, dialogue and understanding and not to allow extremists from both ends of the spectrum to hijack the agenda.

Can Malaysia as a multi-religious nation and Chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) play a role to help  bridge the global misunderstanding of  religions, cultures and civilizations?

This should be the challenge for all Malaysians, regardless of creed or political affiliation.

Education Minister and UMNO Youth leader Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has demanded the resignation of the editor-in-chief of Sarawak Tribune and its suspension while the Deputy Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin called for firm action by the Internal Security Ministry to ensure that the country’s mainstream media was free of deviationists and agents provocateurs.

The Sarawak Tribune has apologized for the “oversight” in publishing one of the offensive Danish cartoons and the editor-on-duty has resigned in apology.  With this  assumption of responsibility, there  is no need for any witch-hunt on the Sarawak Tribune case,  especially when the Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Noh Omar had himself not gone  as far as the Sarawak Tribune editor-on-duty to tender his resignation to make amends for a big blunder which he had committed.

(07/02/2006)