U.N. Council cites only Islam

A U.N. Human Rights Council resolution urging a global ban on defaming religion mentions only Islam. The resolution passed Friday, pushed by the council’s Islamic members and opposed by its Western ones, “expresses deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations.” It was inspired particularly by cartoons mocking Mohammed, the Muslim prophet, that appeared in a Danish newspaper in 2005. In addition to the free-speech issues the resolution raised, Western nations said it was biased. “The problem of religious intolerance is worldwide and not limited to certain religions,” Germany’s Brigitta Maria Siefker-Eberle was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.