MOSCOW, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - A senior member of Russia's lower house of parliament said Tuesday that European leaders should make a joint statement condemning satirical cartoons depicting Mohammed, the main prophet of Islam.
Konstantin Kosachev, head of the State Duma's international affairs committee, said: "The conflict that was sparked off by publications of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed in the European media should be resolved at its early stages, or it will spiral off into something worse."
Depictions of Mohammed are explicitly prohibited in Islam. The cartoons, originally published in a Danish newspaper and subsequently reprinted in several other countries, have provoked protests throughout the Muslim world.
The parliamentarian said the European Union should issue a statement to calm the situation.
In their statement, leaders could cite the core Western value of freedom of expression as a justification for publishing the cartoons, while denouncing the images themselves as offensive and morally unacceptable; this is something the Muslim world is waiting for, Kosachev said, adding that he hoped a joint appeal would be heard by the Arab world.
However, he also said that authorities in the Muslim countries in which protests had turned violent, claiming the lives of several people, must also take measures to ensure the protests remained civilized.
The Duma deputy also criticized a recent statement made by the acting prime minister of the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, which has a largely Muslim population.
Ramzan Kadyrov had said Monday that all Danish non-governmental organizations should be barred from the republic because of the incident.
"We will no longer let them [Danish NGOs] in, precisely for that reason," Kadyrov told a news conference in Moscow.
"I believe his statement is misguided, as neither Danish humanitarian organizations, nor the Danish government are responsible for the publications in the press," Kosachev said.
He acknowledged the right of local governments in Russia to put forward initiatives, but added that decisions regarding foreign organizations had to be agreed with federal authorities in advance.
Kosachev said the acting Chechen leader's decision should be lifted, and discussed with the central government.
