MP urges colleagues to reconsider Denmark deal

A Bahraini MP has urged his fellow lawmakers to reconsider their decision not to endorse a bilateral agreement with Denmark on the grounds that it allowed a Danish cartoonist to insult Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him). "We should not resort to wrong ways to take action against those who drew the offensive cartoons," Hamad Al Sulaiti, a member of the Shura Council, the upper chamber of the bicameral parliament, said. "The cartoons are an old issue and we still have those who adopt negative stances by resorting to boycotts or to crying over spilled milk," he said. Defending the Prophet and Bahrain's interests cannot be through boycotts, he said. "We need to launch serious initiatives and to open dialogue channels with others to explain our positions and present our arguments in order to convince them about the special significance that the Prophet has in our lives," he said. "Islam as a religion has invariably encouraged dialogue and talks in a good manner. God never told us to boycott people or to turn away from them," Al Sulaiti said.