Our Friends the Saudis

Sat, Feb 11, 2006 at 8:32:24 am PST

Apologies are not good enough, according to one of the top Islamic clerics in the world, in the heart of Islam’s “holiest” site. The cartoonists must be put on trial, convicted (a foregone conclusion), and severely punished. And then we must enact laws to prevent any further blasphemy: Saudi Cleric Demands Trial Over Drawings.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia’s top cleric called on the world’s Muslims to reject apologies for the “slanderous” caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed and demanded the authors and publishers of the cartoons be tried and punished, Saudi newspapers reported Saturday.

Thousands of Muslims, meanwhile, took to the streets in London and several other European cities to protest the drawings that were first published in a Danish newspaper in September and recently reprinted in other European publications. One depicted the prophet with a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse.

Denmark also announced it has temporarily withdrawn its ambassadors from Syria, Iran and Indonesia because their safety was at risk in the wake of the controversy.

Speaking to hundreds of faithful at his Friday sermon, Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Seedes, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, called on the international community to enact laws that condemn insults against the prophet and holy sites.

“Where is the world with all its agencies and organizations? Is there only freedom of expression when it involves insults to Muslims? With one voice...we will reject the apology and demand a trial,” Al Riyad, a Saudi daily newspaper, quoted al-Seedes as saying.

Al-Seedes said the cartoons “made a mockery” of the Islam and the Prophet and called them “slanderous.”

UPDATE at 2/11/06 8:45:31 am:

On Wednesday, Condoleezza Rice condemned Iran and Syria for inciting violence over the Danish cartoons, but didn’t say a single word about our friends in Saudi Arabia.