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	Annan says recent elections show yearning for effective Government by UN News Middle East   9 February 2006   United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said victories by religious parties in recent elections in the Middle East were more an indication of interest in effective government than a rejection of secular rule.   In New York, Mr. Annan was asked by reporters about the success of Hamas in the Palestinian elections, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and religious parties in Iraq. “I am not sure if the region is saying goodbye to secular government, or if the religious are better organized, and have acquired a reputation of being able to deliver,” he replied. “If that is the case, it is a message for ruling regimes, and for other parties, that this is what people are looking for.”   The Secretary-General said the trend was not a total rejection of secular movements or a swing to Islamic parties. “I think, if the regimes in power were seen to be delivering, were seen to be close to the people, I am sure the results would have been quite different,” he said.   Winning religious parties, such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, have all been well organized, he said. “What were the people voting for? Were they voting for a clean government? Were they voting for peace? Were they voting for a stable environment in which their kids could go to school? Or were they voting for a Hamas manifesto? My sense is that they were voting for a peaceful and stable and well-organized Palestine.”   The Secretary-General observed that this trend should serve as a “a lesson and a message for all rulers and politicians in the region, and everywhere in the world, that people want good government, and they will vote for people that they believe would offer that.”   Asked specifically about Hamas, he said it was important to remember that it had never been in government and that they needed time to prepare to govern. He also called on the group to listen to appeals from the Quartet on the Middle East – the UN, the Russian Federation, the European Union and the United States – as well as from other countries.   “My message to the Palestinian people who voted and voted peacefully, in a calm and secure manner, is to pursue the effort that they have been engaged in with the Quartet in trying to implement the Road Map,” the Secretary-General said, referring to a peace plan aimed at settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.   “I urge Hamas to listen to the appeals, not just from the Quartet, but from other governments in the region, asking it to transform itself into a political party. We must also understand that this is not the first time that an armed movement has transformed itself into a political party,” he said.
	Interview with Professor Tariq Ramadan on the Cartoon Controversy by George Negus SBS - Dateline   Feb 2006   In today"s fraught global climate, Professor Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Islamic scholar and thinker, is no stranger to controversy. He"s an outspoken critic of the Bush Administration"s policies in Iraq and the Middle East and he also rejects Muslim terrorism, condemning it as "anti-Islam". A Swiss citizen, he has been banned from the US under the Contentious Patriot Act but after the London bombings last year Tony Blair invited him to participate in a task force to counter terrorism. Earlier today George Negus talked with Professor Ramadan from Geneva.   GEORGE NEGUS: Professor, you were actually in Copenhagen in October when the cartoons provoked the first demonstrations. But three months later why do you think this has burst into a "global crisis", as the Danish Prime Minister describes it?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN, ISLAMIC SCHOLAR: What happened in Denmark in October was quite OK and, you know, I met Muslims asking me what was my advice and I told them to not demonstrate just make your point heard, that it is hurtful and you don"t think it is wise to do this and it was OK.   Three months later you had a group of Muslims going to the Middle East and they used photographs and cartoons and other things just to show this to the people and you got there Governments very happy just to show to their own population that they"re the great champion of Islam and the Islamic tradition so I think that three months later it was instrumentalised by some governments to let the Muslims express their anger against the West.   It"s not by accident that it started in Syria and that are now we have Saudi Arabia behind the whole thing. On the other side we have also far-right parties very happy just to show to the people. "Look we told you, these Muslims are not ready to integrate and they"re not respecting our values and the first of values is freedom of speech."   GEORGE NEGUS: You have said that the world has at a crossroads. Do you believe the situation will get worse before it gets better?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: I think it is already very, very bad and very, very negative and we know that some people on both sides are ready to instrumentalise everything into us versus them theory or the clash of civilisations.   Let us say to the Muslims, OK this is against our religion, we are not used to laughing at religion or to make fun out of religion. And we have just to say this to the people. On other side it"s really important that our fellow European, Australian, Canadian citizens understand that, yes, we cherish freedom of speech, but we also need our fellow citizens to understand that it is a question of respect, it is a question of a civic sense of responsibility.   We are not asking for more censorship, we are asking for more respect, but we all understand that now we"re dealing with very sensitive issues and if we are not cautious with this we are nurturing emotions and polarisation in our world and the extremists are going to use it.   GEORGE NEGUS: Professor, in Western countries there is a feeling that the Muslim reaction has fuelled the situation, actually worsened it. What can be done to calm things down now?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: I think first Muslims should say, "We have to stop," killing people - this is not acceptable. Even the Prophet of Islam himself, when he was attacked, he was patient and he was reacting with the wisdom and we have to say to the Muslims, "This is not the way to react, we have to stop." So Muslim voices should be heard saying that.   At the same time don"t continue to provoke - and I think that the newspapers who just published it afterwards, it was not wise. We are now not in a debate, it is something which is a power struggle. We all - and you in Australia, as us in Europe, in the States, in Canada - we have to understand something. For the last decade I was saying, what is going on in the Western countries will have a tremendous impact on what is going on in the Muslim-majority countries. And this is exactly a signal for us.   GEORGE NEGUS: If reason and sanity don"t prevail what do you think is the worst-case scenario?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: It is a war - psychological and religious and civilisational. You know, against two civilisations, just death to each other, so we are not listening, so the worst-case scenario is to continue in that way and just to make the people understand it is the West against Islam and it could lead to something which is a real fracture between two worlds.   GEORGE NEGUS: Are we really talking about mutual ignorance here? Is that what we need to break through?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: This is what I am asking for - national movements of local initiatives in the Western societies to let the people know each other better and when you work with people, when you are partners at the grassroots level you know each other and you respect each other but let us not be naive - there is a political aspect of the whole question, so here we are also dealing with geo-strategic interest, political instrumentalisation and it is not a question of ignorance here, it is a question that some political parties, the far right parties and even what we have now with the neo-conservatives in the States using the whole idea that the other is a threat, that there is a war on terrorism, the global ideology of fear, using this.   GEORGE NEGUS: What is your assessment of the impact of this crisis over cartoons on the fragile situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the Palestinians-Israeli conflict, on terrorism and even the war on terrorism?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: I don"t think that the cartoons just make it, they are just revealing the state of affairs. It is really bad, you know? Iraq and Palestine and all these issues just are nurturing this sense of victim-hood - us versus them. We want democracy in our societies but we also want democracy for other societies and we have to respect the rights of the people.   GEORGE NEGUS: Are you referring to the complaint of the Palestinians that the West won"t recognise their democratic choice, that the militant Hamas is now actually the governing authority there?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: You know, the feeling today is that the West has double standards. We speak about democracy but when they are winning the elections the perception is you are not accepting this. They will use the cartoons to express their frustration and their frustrations are legitimate.   GEORGE NEGUS: Professor, you"re admired in the Islamic world and in the West but you have also been accused of supporting suicide bombing. Does this undermine your authority to speak out on this issue?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: I never supported suicide bombings and there is not in my work. As I am critical towards the policy of the state of Israel, the government of Israel, of course some people don"t like that so they are confusing the whole picture because they don"t want my words to be heard.   But let me tell you something - from the very beginning I knew that my project was controversial because I"m speaking to two worlds. I was raised in the West, I am just rooted in Islamic tradition and I am building bridges, and when you build bridges you"re just disappointing the people on both sides.   GEORGE NEGUS: So are you saying, Professor, that ironically, something like this, as awful as it seems, could be a wake-up call for all of us?   PROFESSOR TARIQ RAMADAN: It is, it is, exactly. You know, the fact that you"re inviting me, that we have this program tonight is just exact evidence that this is what is needed and it could be a wake-up call and it is. I really think that if we are passive and we"re looking at what the extremists on both sides are ready to do we all lost so it"s a wake-up call, yes. Visit the related web page
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