Rai slams anti-Islam film as shameful

Patriarch Beshara Rai condemned as "shameful" Thursday a film deemed offensive to Islam that has sparked deadly anti-U.S. protests in several Middle Eastern countries. “The film is not only offensive to Muslims, but to all religions,” Rai said during a news conference in Bkirki. The film claims Muslim Prophet Mohammad was a fraud and depicts as a feckless philanderer who approved of child sexual abuse, among other overtly insulting claims that have caused outrage. The patriarch also voiced regret over the death of individuals during protests that broke out in Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Sudan and Morocco over the low-budget film which ridicules the Prophet Mohammad. Rai also said Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI would call for putting an end to violence in Syria during his visit to Lebanon, adding that the pontiff would also call for ending support for both sides in the 19-month-long conflict. “The pope will definitely call for putting an end to the cycle of violence in Syria and stop any financial or armed support to both Syrian regime and opposition,” Rai said ahead of the visit of the pontiff who is due in Lebanon Friday. Activists say more than 23,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March last year. Syria's uprising began with largely peaceful protests against Assad's regime but has since morphed into a civil war in the face of a brutal government crackdown. Rai depicted the papal visit as a call for peace in the Middle East, a call for the separation of religion from the state, for building democracy, and the acceptance of the other. “The Arab Spring we want is the one that will enhance Muslim-Christian co-existence,” Rai told reporters. “Our hearts and the land are eagerly ready to receive the pontiff, who comes to Lebanon as a visitor to all the countries in the Middle East,” he added, noting that a meeting will be held in the presence of the Catholic patriarchs and bishops in the Middle East in Lebanon in December to tackle the implementation of the apostolic exhortation. The Daily Star