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Cartoons: press code planned

Hasan Suroor

E.U. move to protect religious sensitivities

LONDON: A Europe-wide voluntary code of conduct for the media has been proposed to prevent a repetition of incidents such as the current row over the publication of cartoons of Prophet Muhammed, which have sparked worldwide protests by Muslims.

The code, proposed by the European Union Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini, would call for "prudence'' by the media when reporting sensitive faith issues.

The idea, he said, was to emphasise that the right to free speech also carried with it responsibilities, but he insisted that it was not intended to curb the freedom of the press in any way. Mr Frattini, a former Italian foreign minister, told The Daily Telegraph that by agreeing to a self-regulating code "the press will give the Muslim world the message: we are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression, we can and we are ready to self-regulate that right''.

He said in an interview that Europe faced a "very real problem'' of trying to reconcile the "freedom of expression and the freedom of religion'' both of which, he acknowledged, were "fundamental''.

Mr Frattini clarified that the proposed code would not be legally binding. The E.U. would not have powers to enforce it.

His remarks came as commentators in Britain called for media to respect religious sensitivities of others.

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