No offense meant to Islam, Muslims: France's Macron tells Palestine's Abbas

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he did not intend to insult Islam and its followers in what could be interpreted as a retreat from his recent inflammatory Islamophobic remarks and support for a publication's incendiary cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Speaking in a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday night, Macron said he respected Islam and the Muslim world, and did not mean to offend them, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

He added that he differentiated between terrorism and extremism on the one side, and Islam and the Muslim world on the other.

The remarks came two days after Macron told Qatar-based al-Jazeera television news network that he wanted to eliminate the misunderstandings, after his remarks triggered an outburst of anger against France among Muslim nations and leaders worldwide.

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Protests continue across the Muslim world over offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and French President Emmanuel Macron’s support for such caricatures.

Macron said on Saturday that the caricatures published by the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine did not represent the French government’s position, and underlined that the magazine was not an official publication.

“I understand the feelings that this arouses; I respect them. But I want you to understand the role that I have. My role is to calm things down, as I am doing here, but at the same time it is to protect these rights,” he said, doubling down on his alleged support for freedom of expression.

Elsewhere in his remarks on Monday night, Macron told Abbas that France’s position on the establishment of peace in the Middle East region on the basis of the so-called two-state solution was firm and unswerving.

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Abbas, for his part, underlined that everyone must respect religions and religious symbols, and anything offensive to Prophet Muhammad as well as other prophets and religions must not be allowed.

He also denounced all forms of violence, extremism, and terrorism.

Macron's anti-Islam rhetoric and his support for controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad have triggered a boycott of French goods, including dairy products and cosmetics, among Muslims.

Mass demonstrations have also taken place in several countries with posters of Macron and French flags set ablaze in some instances.

Sisi, Macron discuss outrage over insulting cartoons

Separately, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has stressed the need for a complete differentiation between Islam as a religion that promotes peace, tolerance and renounces violence, and terrorist actions that are committed by extremists.

Sisi, in a phone conversation with his French counterpart on Monday, noted that acts of terror are condemned in all their forms.

The Egyptian president also called for promotion of coexistence between followers of all religions via dialog, understanding, as well as mutual respect, and demanded avoidance of prejudice towards religious symbols.

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Egypt is trying to prevent terrorist groups as well as their sponsors from tarnishing the image of Islam, Sisi noted.

The Egyptian and French presidents also discussed the latest attacks in France amid a Muslim outrage over the controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad. 

Sisi and Macron reviewed latest developments in Libya as well, and exchanged viewpoints on efforts aimed at the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between warring sides in the North African country.

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