The head of a United Nations (UN) anti-extremism body Miguel Angel expressed Wednesday a deep concern about increasing tensions over the offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, urging "mutual respect" between people of different faiths and political views, according to AFP.
In an official statement, the UN representative said that he "is following with deep concern the growing tensions and instances of intolerance triggered by the publication of the satirical caricatures depicting Prophet Mohammed."
"The inflammatory caricatures have also provoked acts of violence against innocent civilians who were attacked for their sheer religion, belief or ethnicity," the statement read.
"Insulting religions and sacred religious symbols provoke hatred and violent extremism leading to polarization and fragmentation of the society," he warned.
It is worth mentioning that, France, on Sunday, called on Arab and Muslim governments to “stop” the calls to boycott French commodities and calls for protests, saying that they are backed by a “radical minority”, according to Agence France-Presse.
In a statement, Paris urged Middle Eastern countries to prevent retail companies from boycotting their products.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the past few days have witnessed calls in many Middle East countries to boycott French products, especially food products, as well as calls to protest against France over the publication of cartoons insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.
“These boycotting calls are baseless and must stop immediately, as well as all attacks against our country that are being pushed by an extremist minority,” the statement said.
Calls to boycott French goods gained momentum in Islamic countries in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s support for the cartoons offensive to the Prophet Muhammad.
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