Blasphemy against Islam

Published by Arab News. It is interesting to notice how muslims treat blasphemy against Islam when in Europe blasphemy against Christianity is justified by the sacred law of Freedom of Speech.


Qur’an Abuse Sparks Riot
Khaled Al-Mahdi, Arab News

SANAA, 26 March 2007 — Hundreds of workers, outraged by an alleged desecration of the Qur’an by a French engineer, destroyed facilities and houses of foreign engineers at a giant gas-exporting project in southeastern Yemen yesterday.

Witnesses said workers at Balhaf port in Shabwa province set a helicopter and nine cars on fire. The port is some 580 km southeast of the capital Sanaa.

A security officer at the scene said police forces managed to disperse the rioting workers. “The situation is under control now,” said the officer. He said three workers were injured in clashes with police. Witnesses said police shot in the air to disperse the rioters.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity said there were no casualties among the foreign workers as security forces managed to evacuate them swiftly.

Government officials in Sanaa said an ad hoc panel headed by the Shabwa governor and the province’s security chief would investigate claims by the workers that a French engineer kicked and tore the Qur’an apart.

Yemen is looking to exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to its dwindling oil reserves and sees the $3.7 billion Balhaf project as key to achieving that.