Mission & Justice

Mohammed Rasooldeen;16/4/08

European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who finished a two-day visit to Riyadh yesterday, said that the EU would not develop new laws against blasphemy. Ferrero-Waldner was speaking in reference to the recent release of “Fitna,” a short film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, and offensive cartoons published in European newspapers in 2005 and 2006. “There are two principles involved in this matter: freedom of press and freedom of religion. Every individual has a right to express what he thinks is correct. Similarly, the other individual, who is not in agreement, can rebut in the same way,” she said.

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Editorial:15/4/08

In an age when heritage in so many parts of the world is either ignored, Disneyized into theme parks or, worse still, subjected to the destructive onslaught of the bulldozer and the developer, it is encouraging to learn that the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the US Library of Congress plan to digitize all Arab and Muslim scientific records. The information, showing clearly the great achievements of Arab Muslim civilization, will be available free of charge on the Internet through the World Digital Library. This is very significant and important news. One of the aims of the library, to be launched by UNESCO early next year, is the promotion of international and intercultural understanding.

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