|
Berlusconi Apologizes to Muslims for Islam Slur
ROME, Sept 28 (News Agencies) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sought to put a diplomatic disaster behind him Friday with an apology to Muslims for saying Western civilization was "superior to Islam" in comments which sparked a worldwide storm of criticism.
Berlusconi made his apology in a scheduled speech to the Italian Senate. He said he was "sorry" if his comments had hurt Arabs and Muslims, and that he had been misinterpreted by "fools" in the Italian press corps.
The 64-year-old former nightclub singer said that the remarks made to Italian journalists during a visit to Berlin on Wednesday had been "taken out of context, misinterpreted and had hurt the sensibility of [my] Arab and Muslim friends."
"They tried to pin me down on an isolated word which bore no relation to the context of my comments," Berlusconi told Senators in Rome. Referring to an Italian proverb, he added: "some fools look at the finger and not at the moon."
Berlusconi words jolted efforts to build an international coalition to fight terrorism and clearly exasperated his United States and European allies, who have been working delicately with Arab states to forge it.
"We are conscious of the crucial role of the modern Arab countries," Berlusconi added, highlighting in particular the role they could play in resolving the Middle East conflict.
Briefing Italian journalists during a visit to Berlin on Wednesday, Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, said the West "should be confident of the superiority of our civilization" and he urged Europe to "reconstitute itself on the basis of its Christian roots."
Those remarks sparked outrage across the Arab world. Jordan denounced them as "chauvinistic, fascist and repugnant", and the Arab League said they were "racist."
Egypt, host country of the Arab League, said earlier Friday that it deeply deplored the outburst and expected Italy to provide "urgent clarifications" of Berlusconi's "strange" remarks.
"Egypt wants to know if these declarations represent the official point of view of a state that supposedly ranks among the Western countries close to the Islamic world and that supposedly knows the values of Islam, the principles of Islamic society and its tolerance," an official said.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa said he considered the remarks "as racist and by such a remark, he [Berlusconi] has crossed the limits of reasons and decency."
Arab diplomats will be received by the foreign ministry next Tuesday, headed by Saudi Arabia's ambassador, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, the city's most senior Arab diplomat, giving an opportunity for a possible move to redress the situation.
The diplomats, and Italy's estimated one million Muslims, will take heart from an opinion poll published Friday in which a majority of Italians - 53% - thought the remarks insulting, even if 30% backed Berlusconi's controversial views.
Apologies notwithstanding, there are signs that Italy will still have much ground to cover to close the gap opened with the Arab states over the comments, and a lingering sense that the garrulous prime minister was merely expressing ideas which are part and parcel of his center-right government.
It will not be lost on Arab states that the Italian right supported Berlusconi's comments, even if he now claims they were misinterpreted.
European Affairs Minister Rocco Buttiglione also came to the prime minister's defense.
"Our civilization... is a civilization which protects, better than others, the fundamental values which make life worth living," he said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Margherita Boniver said: "There is no doubt that this superiority is clearly evident in the area of women's rights, in particular when one thinks of the treatment that a number of Islamic regimes reserve for women."
Boniver is due to visit Pakistan on Monday.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General George Robertson told reporters during a visit to the NATO defense college in Rome he believed the prime minister had been "misinterpreted".
Washington and London declined officially to comment on the remarks, but Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt on Thursday termed them "dangerous, because they may result in a sense of humiliation and an end of dialogue between civilizations."
|
