September 20, 2012
The US embassy wishes to reiterate the expressions issued by Secretary Clinton and President Obama regarding the recent inflammatory video that has offended many Muslims and others around the world. It should be noted that the United States strongly rejects both its contents and messages, and had nothing to do with the video. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, the United States believes that religious tolerance is essential to the stability of any nation and of any people. Among the fundamental rights we also hold closely is the right to peacefully protest. As Secretary Clinton has said, “we also fully reject hatred and violence in the name of religion.”
The embassy wishes to thank officials, religious leaders, and community leaders in both Sri Lanka and Maldives for the many expressions of sympathy and condolences over the losses of our colleagues in Libya and for their calls for calm and restraint.
