Religious extremism disrupts rebuilding of Iraq, says Tutu
New York – Religious fundamentalism is on the rise, Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu warned the United Nations, and he pointed to Iraq as a place where religious divisions threaten to disrupt the rebuilding of a shattered nation.
But the retired archbishop, who addressed a standing room-only crowd as part of a lecture series at the United Nations, also urged diplomats to embrace moderate religious values – charity and understanding – as a basis for their work.
In some countries, religious extremism has stepped into the power vacuums left by the fall of dictatorships and the end of the Cold War, Archbishop Tutu said.
“That is when fundamentalism arises, because people then are deeply distressed by complexity. They look for simplistic answers.”
The Anglican cleric cited ethnic violence between Serbs and Muslims after the fall of communism in Yugoslavia, and said as a result of rivalry between Sunni and Shiite Muslims since the ousting of dictator Saddam Hussein “the power situation has been exacerbated”.
Archbishop Tutu, whose activism against apartheid won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, said South Africa faced a similar vacuum in the 1990s after the end of white rule. It avoided racial violence in part because of its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which he headed. UN workers stood five-deep in a meeting-room balcony, craning for a glimpse of the white-haired activist as he delivered his speech sitting beside UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Archbishop Tutu recently called the US-led war in Iraq “immoral” saying it left the world a more dangerous place. Yesterday he criticised President George Bush of oversimplification when he labeled Iran, Iraq and North Korea an “axis of evil” in January 2002.
The 72-year-old cleric reflected on his years as an anti-apartheid campaigner, saying one of his proudest moments was marching with Jewish and Muslim leaders during protests against the white government in 1989.
He urged world leaders to work on eliminating poverty and injustice in developing countries, saying they – not holy texts – are the real cause of hatred.
“We will not win the war on terrorism unless we eliminate those root causes,” he said. – Sapa-AP
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