GOA STATEMENT PRAISES ALGERIAN PUBLIC'S CALM

UNCLAS ALGIERS 000341 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV AG SUBJECT: GOA STATEMENT PRAISES ALGERIAN PUBLIC'S CALM REACTION TO CARTOON CONTROVERSY AND CALLS FOR AVOIDANCE OF VIOLENCE AND PROVOCATION REF: A. ALGIERS 324 ¶B. ALGIERS 241 ¶C. ALGIERS 199 ¶1. (SBU) The Algerian Council of Ministers issued February 27 a declaration on the Danish cartoon controversy praising the Algerian public's calm reaction and calling for tolerance, mutual understanding, and the avoidance of both violence and provocations. The declaration is a textbook case of the GOA's operational style: namely, avoidance of high profile reaction at the outset of a crisis; careful behind-the-scenes action to channel reaction and ensure calm; praise for the result the government quietly engineered; and principled appeals for non-violence, restraint, and mutual understanding. Below is an unofficial Embassy translation of the text. ¶2. (U) Begin Text: The Algerian people were deeply hurt, as were more than a billion Muslim men and women, by the disgraceful acts and indecent insults to the sanctity of Islam and holiness of the Prophet Muhammad through cartoons that transmit not only a spiritual dearth but also a troubling intolerance and ignorance. Despite the unspeakable suffering and the deep harm caused, the Algerian people remained calm and maintained self-control. The Council of Ministers would like to pay tribute to the great maturity and dignity by which our people denounced these vile acts. Freedom of expression must in all countries of the world have its natural and beneficial limits in the higher respect of all people's beliefs. Algeria profoundly believes in the virtue of tolerance and in the benefit of dialogue between people, cultures, and civilizations in a world which is already more than saturated with violence of all kinds. Thus, Algeria calls on everyone to work together fully in order to avoid, whatever the reason, any act or behavior that could fuel the extremisms of all sides at the expense of harmony and understanding between peoples and between civilizations. End Text. ERDMAN