Egypt president slams anti-Islamic film as 'part of organised assault on Muslim religion'

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has slammed an anti-Islamic movie produced in the US, by American diplomats, saying that insults to Prophet Muhammad are part of an organised assault on Muslim religious and cultural values, and this can't be brushed aside.

"The obscenities that I have referred to that were recently released as part of an organised campaign against Islamic sanctities are unacceptable," the Washington Post quoted Morsi as saying, while referring to a crude YouTube video called Innocence of Muslims mocking Islam. "We reject this. We cannot accept it. We will not allow anyone to do this by word or deed," he added

Addressing a UN General Assembly gathering that marked his debut as an international statesman, Morsi presented an unapologetically Islamic view of world events and Egypt's role in them. He said outrage over insults to Islam does not justify violence, but he refrained from saying anything directly about the attack two weeks ago on the US Embassy in Cairo.

Morsi also seemed to reject the case for free speech made by President Barack Obama just a day earlier. "Egypt respects freedom of expression. But not a freedom of expression that targets a specific religion or a specific culture," he said.

In his address, Morsi never mentioned the US, Egypt's largest foreign benefactor, but much of his message appeared aimed at setting boundaries for his country's new relationship with the West, the paper said. He said Egypt would not back away from a diplomatic partnership with Iran to end the civil war in Syria, a partnership that is viewed with deep skepticism by Washington because of Iran's alleged role in funding and arming the repressive Syrian regime, it added.