Pakistan to raise anti-Islam cartoon issue in UN

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that he would move the Organization of Islamic Council (OIC) to raise the matter of a Dutch anti-Islam cartoon contest in the United Nations.

In a video message, the newly elected premier said: "This is not the issue of a single Muslim or country. This is the issue of every Muslim in the world."

His message came as members of a religious party, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), began a march to capital Islamabad vowing to continue a sit-in until the expulsion of the Dutch ambassador.

Khan said the issue could not be addressed by expelling an ambassador but through a joint stand against the Dutch Freedom party leader Geert Wilders, mastermind of the contest, in the UN through the OIC.

A government delegation led by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is trying to persuade the protesters to end their march.

He added that a minority in the West was involved in Islamophobic and anti-Islam acts.

"This is our fault that we have failed to make them understand how important this issue is. How much it hurts us. Noble Prophet Mohammad lives in our hearts."

Wilders, known for his anti-Islam stance, announced in June a contest to draw cartoons of Prophet Mohammad.

The decision raised criticism across Muslim states, including Pakistan, as physical depictions of God or Prophet Mohammad are forbidden in Islam.