2/14/2006
Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Tehran – The chief editor of the Iranian daily Hamshahri said on Tuesday that he would even be ready to sacrifice the World Cup attendance of the Iranian national football team for the sake of the daily's controversial cartoon competition on the Holocaust.

'The truth is more important than football,' Mohammed-Reza Zaeri told reporters in the daily's office in north Tehran.

He was referring to a question whether he was aware of the consequences of his daily's cartoon competition in the West, including the probable disqualification of the Iranian team from the World Cup or international condemnations jeopardising national interests.

'Whether national interests will be jeopardised or not is not my responsibility, because I am just a journalist seeking the truth for which I will go to the end of the line,' the cleric said.

'But except (US President George W.) Bush, I consider then Western leaders as wise statesmen who will not jeopardise their national interests because of a cartoon competition,' he added.

Zaeri complained that the site – www.irancartoon.com and www.irancartoon.ir – on which the cartoons are to be displayed has already been hacked several times and two cartoonist from Australia and Brazil pressured by the West to quit the competition.

'This is definitely not what the West calls freedom of press and expression,' Zaeri said.

The daily has not yet named the jury for the competition but Zaeri said that the members would be both Iranians and foreigners, without however clarifying from which countries the foreigners would come.

Zaeri said that the prize for the winner or winners has not been specified yet but the daily would allow sponsors to get involved in the competition. The prize seems however to be much more than the gold coin – 120 euro – which was initially planned.

The cleric also called on Danish newspapers to join its self-initiated international cartoon competition on the Holocaust.

'The Danish daily (Jyllands-Posten) which insulted our prophet, as well as other Danish dailies, can attend our cartoon competition for decreasing their sin,' Mohammed-Reza Zarei told reporters in Tehran.

Zarei said his newspaper would also be willing to print pro-Holocaust articles by the Western press 'without any censuring' if Hamshahri were to be allowed to write in Western dailies without censorship, either.

The chief editor claimed that the cartoon competition aimed to seek the truth about the Holocaust.

'We have the highest respect for world public opinion and in no way want to act provocatively,' Zarei said.

'All we have is one question and all we want is the true reply, but we are wondering why the West is afraid to grant us even this simple demand,' the chief editor said.

'If the Holocaust is proven to be a fact, even I, as a Muslim cleric, will become a defender of the Holocaust,' he added.