KUALA LUMPUR and CAIRO: Malaysia's Culture Minister Rais Yatim has lashed out at YouTube and Google for being “insensitive to the anguish of Muslims” concerning the film clip that sparked massive protests across the Islamic world for what Muslims felt was insulting to their faith and Prophet Mohamed. He called for the clip, “Innocence of Muslims” to be immediately removed from the video-sharing site across the globe. “That's how insensitive they are,” he said in a statement on Monday. The minister said free speech did not include “causing or creating hatred among Muslims against those who had debased their religion.” He said that in light of the recent protests in the Islamic world, YouTube had a responsibility to remove the posting from its site completely. “YouTube appears to be oblivious to the tumult it has caused. The owner of YouTube does not deserve to be spared the ire of Muslims or the long arm of the law,” he added. He said the Malaysia public prosecutor had every right under the Penal Code to file cases against those who cause “disharmony, disunity or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will on grounds of religion between groups of persons who had violated Section 298A of the Penal Code.” He said the powers of the authorities under the Communications and Multimedia Act could also be invoked. The film has been condemned by both Muslims and the Coptic Orthodox Christian Church in Egypt as “inflammatory” while the World Council of Churches said the film was “an insult to the heart of the Muslim faith.” Egypt President Mohamed Morsi spoke out in condemnation at the attack on the United States Embassy in Cairo on Thursday, saying violence has no place in protests. He also said he would work to ensure the safety of foreigners in the country after anti-American sentiment has grown dramatically over the past few days. “Expressing opinion, freedom to protest and announcing positions is guaranteed but without assaulting private or public property, diplomatic missions or embassies," said Morsi in his first comments on the attack on the embassy. In Egypt, protesters climbed the US Embassy's wall and took down the American flag, replacing it with an Islamic flag that read: “There is no God but God and Mohamed is His Messenger." While the Egyptian protesters remained nonviolent, in Libya's Benghazi, violent attacks took place against the American consulate in the city, which left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American staffers dead. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's political party, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said in a statement published on Wednesday that the film was attempting to create sectarian tensions in the country. It also “strongly condemned" what it argued was a movie produced by US-based Coptic Christians, saying the film was a “racist crime and a failed attempt to provoke sectarian strife between the two elements of the nation, Muslims and Christians," according to a statement posted on the party's website. “The film, clips of which are available on the social website YouTube, depicts Muhammad as a fraud, showing him having sex and calling for massacres," The Associated Press reported. The protesters had demanded the expulsion of the American Ambassador to Egypt, the Sheikh of al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti for their “inadequate response" to the film and the crisis. “Islam does not censor opinions, but refuses the freedom to violate the beliefs of faith," said a statement from Egypt's Ministry of Endowments in response to the crisis.
