×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

Egypt's Mursi: freedom of speech comes with responsibility

by Reuters
Tuesday, 25 September 2012 22:35 GMT

NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, speaking about recent violent assaults on U.S. diplomatic missions in the Muslim world, said freedom of expression carries responsibilities when that expression threatens peace and stability.

"If we wish to co-exist and prosper, we must do so by living together rather than by seeking to dominate one another," said Mursi, who is in New York to attend this week's U.N. General Assembly meeting.

He spoke at a philanthropic meeting convened by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

An anti-Islam film posted on YouTube provoked protests across the Muslim world this month. Related violence included the storming of U.S. and other Western embassies, the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Mursi's appearance in New York comes at a delicate time for relations between the United States and Egypt. Anti-American protests have cast new shadows over U.S. engagement with the region, and President Barack Obama said in a recent interview that the United States considered Egypt's Islamist government neither an ally nor an enemy.

Mursi recently told The New York Times that Washington must change its approach to the Arab world and help build a Palestinian state to reduce pent-up anger in the region.

He challenged the international community on Tuesday to develop a new model of global governance that would aid the world's needy and promote dignity.

"I simply cannot watch the blood that's shed in Syria or the children that are starving in Gaza and claim that our model of global governance works," Mursi said.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

-->