UAE’s Mohammed bin Zayed condemns violence, hate speech in call to France’s Macron
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed condemned the recent terrorist attacks in France in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces offered his condolences to the president and the families of the victims of the recent attacks, adding that he rejected any justifications used by terrorists to excuse their crimes, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The Crown Prince also stressed that violence is not representative of the teachings of Prophet Mohammed.
“These violent atrocities are inconsistent with the teachings and principles of all monotheistic religions that call for peace, tolerance and love and emphasized the sanctity of human life,” WAM cited the Crown Prince as saying.
“Under no circumstances should the Prophet be linked to violence or politicization,” he said.
The Crown Prince also called on individuals of different backgrounds to engage in respectful dialogue rather than resort to hate speech and violence.
The phone call came after a recent string of attacks following the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty by an extremist. Paty had shown his students cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed during a class on the freedom of speech – an act that Muslims consider to be blasphemous.
Macron had labeled the killing as an “Islamist” attack and vowed to crackdown on radicalism.
Thousands of soldiers have also been stationed across the country in front of places of worship and schools, after a knife-wielding man killed three people in a church in the French city of Nice last week.
