Muslim protest at Danish Consulate

Joan Collins THE Balearic Muslim community yesterday delivered a letter to the Danish Consul in the Balearics, Karen Nielsen de Rossello, demanding an apology from her, as the Danish Government's representative, for the cartoons of Mohammed published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The President of the Balearic Algerian Association, Nouredine Belmeddah, asked that the Consul take measures to prevent religious insults escalating in the name of freedom of expression. He called for the creation of a law to protect Muslims from insults and demanded that Nielsen should explain the official position of the Danish Government on the cartoon issue. In the letter which they delivered yesterday, the Balearic Muslims said they “deplored” the publication of the cartoons as “the hostility shown towards us by the media who either are, or are directed by, militant persons against the Muslim people”. Also in the letter the Muslims invited “most sincerely” young Danish people to learn about Mohammed and his importance to their religion. The Balearic Government yesterday said they understood the attitude shown by the Balearic Islamic community. They appealed for “tolerance” from all peoples and cultures so that they could live together in harmony in the autonomous region. The deputy leader of the Government, Rosa Estaras, said that the Government, through the Ministry of Immigration, had a “close and strong” relationship with the Balearic Islamic community. She added that before the department was formed at the end of 2005, the Government had been “working with the Muslim community for a long time”. “We respect their point of view and we do understand why they feel this way”, said Estaras. She added that the job of the Government is to listen and respond to their worries and necessities without losing sight of “the word tolerance”. “We have to make all the people who live in the islands aware of the necessity to understand each other in order to guarantee mutual tolerance and respect.”