|
Bush backs Denmark over Prophet cartoons
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-08 09:50
US President George W. Bush assured Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh
Rasmussen of his "support and solidarity" over violence sparked by caricatures
of the Prophet Mohammed, the White House said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac had
previously called Rasmussen after the attacks on Danish missions, raising
spirits in Copenhagen which had been feeling rather isolated
Bush telephoned Rasmussen from his Air Force One presidential plane, and the
two "agreed that the way forward is through dialogue and tolerance, not
violence," said spokesman Scott McClellan.
"The president expressed support and solidarity with Denmark in the aftermath
of the violence against the Danish and other diplomatic facilities," McClellan
told reporters.
"Obviously this support from major countries lifts some of the pressure and
soothes us, especially when it comes from the Americans and British, who
slightly disappointed us earlier by their criticism and lack of solidarity,"
said one Danish diplomat.
But in the Muslim world there were few signs that anger was abating.
A mob attacked offices of Norway's NATO troops in Afghanistan, leaving four
protesters dead. It was the second day in a row that demonstrators were killed
in Afghanistan.
Up to 700 demonstrators rampaged through the northern Afghan city of Maymana
Tuesday, throwing stones at a UN office and a compound of a reconstruction
project led by Norwegian troops, witnesses and officials said.
When they tried to enter the compound, soldiers from the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force used tear gas, prompting the crowd to
hurl hand grenades.
|
