Jordan Times
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
MPs stage sit-in
AMMAN (AFP) — Christian and Muslim lawmakers and
religious leaders held a sit-in on Monday to protest against comments made by
Pope Benedict XVI last week.
Around 50 protesters gathered yesterday outside the headquarters of the
professional trade unions, calling on the pope to “apologise” and saying the
regrets he expressed Sunday were insufficient.
The Pope on Sunday said he was “deeply sorry” for the outrage triggered by a speech he gave Tuesday at a German university, and stressed that the passages he quoted did not express his personal opinion.
“I think that the Pope’s remarks were offensive to all Arabs, Muslims and Christians alike. The justifications given are not enough. There must be a clear apology,” Christian MP Odeh Qawwas (Amman, Third Distritct) told AFP.
“Islam is innocent of all the accusations made against it. I say it as a Christian and I am proud to be a Levantine Christian who has a Muslim culture,” said Qawwas, one of nine Christian MPs in Parliament.
Rauf Abu Jaber, secular head of the country’s Greek Orthodox Council, echoed his remarks, saying: “Christian Arabs are part of this great nation. Offending Islam and Muslims is an offence to the nation of which we are part.”
Islamic Action Front (IAF) Secretary General Zaki Bani Rsheid, said the Pope “should quickly issue a... clear apology in order to contain the repercussions” of his remarks.
“The more the delay, the more repercussions and
this might lead to unpleasant results,” said the IAF chief, whose party holds 17
seats in the Lower House.
Bani Rsheid acknowledged that the regret expressed Sunday by the Pope was “a
step” in the right direction, but he insisted it was “insufficient.”
“What happened paves the way for a clash of civilisations and a clash between religions, and this is something that we do not want,” he added.