Annan Calls for Religious Tolerance

Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, addresses a meeting of the Security Council on "The situation in the Middle East" at UN headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006. (AP Photo/Ed Betz) (Ed Betz - AP)

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a conference on interfaith dialogue Thursday that he worried the current trend toward increasing intolerance will spread conflict.

Other participants in the conference at the United Nations said governments must isolate extremists, improve education to promote understanding and tackle the root causes of anger and despair among the disenfranchised to keep them from resorting to violence that undercuts security and development.

"Our global community is experiencing a period of sharply increasing intolerance, extremism and violence," Annan said in a message to the meeting. "Recent developments in the Middle East have only fueled this trend. Relations between adherents of major world religions have been particularly affected.

"Driving these disturbing developments is the growing tendency to articulate differences in terms of identity _ be it religious, ethnic, racial or otherwise _ rather than in terms of opinions or interests," Annan added.

Other officials admitted the task was daunting, pointing to how events like the Prophet Mohammed cartoons and Pope Benedict XVI's criticism of Islam can spin out of control. Misunderstandings can stem from words that one person thinks are innocuous but another views as pejorative, they said.

"As we work together to combat international terrorism, it is important to prevent the use of religious or ethnic differences to advance one's political or economic interests and the creation of divides that separate cultures and civilizations," Kazakhstan Foreign Affairs Minister Kassymzhomart Taokaev said.

Thursday's meeting, held on the sidelines of the General Assembly, was preceded by a 15-nation core group passing a draft resolution urging all nations, organizations and civil society "to promote a culture of peace" with practical, action-oriented steps at the local, national and international levels.

"To think that any of us can be secure while others are not is purely an illusion," said Haya Rashid Al Khalifa, president of the current U.N. General Assembly. "With globalization, our world has become a small village. We need to relate to each other. We all share universal values."

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo initiated what has become the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace at last year's General Assembly. Since then, several other venues have sprung up to encourage religions to find common ground and avoid antagonism that can be exploited.