By Miranda La Rose Saturday, September 15 2012

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Our condolences: Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran, at US Embassy Information Resource Centre, Port-of-Spain yesterday, signs a condolence boo...

Trinidad and Tobago has condemned acts of violence against all those who serve their country in different parts of the world, including the United States (US) whose missions are under attack because of an anti-Islam film, Foreign Affairs Winston Dookeran said yesterday.

Meanwhile US Ambassador to TT Beatrice Welters has condemned the film, The Innocence of Muslims saying it “is a hateful attack on a great religion.”

A video of excerpts from the film has sparked attacks on US embassies in Libya, Yemen and Egypt, and the killing of ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other diplomats. It has also sparked attacks on Western missions, German and British. Welters, in a release yesterday, said the video “seems to have been created specifically to create strife.”

There are reports, she said, “the producer lied to the cast and the crew about the theme and content of the video. It does not reflect the beliefs or culture of the United States.”

Stating there was no justification for violence, Welters said, “Hateful messages are best combated through peaceful protest, education and tolerance.” As ambassador to TT, she said, “I have seen how (TT’s) culture embraces mutual understanding among faiths.”

She thanked the people of TT for their outpouring of sympathy and condemnation of the violence. Welters noted also that US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton condemned the video saying the US “had absolutely nothing” to do with it. It was, she said, “disgusting and reprehensible.”

Rejecting its content and message, Clinton said, before the start of the US-Morocco Strategic Dialogue yesterday at the US State Department, America’s commitment to religious tolerance, “goes back to the very beginning of our nation.”

America is home to people of all religions, including millions of Muslims. Condemning the violence, Clinton said, “We greatly appreciate that many Muslims in the US and around the world have spoken out on the issue.” Meanwhile in a message to Clinton on Thursday, Dookeran expressed, “deepest condolences to the families of those killed when the attacks began on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11.

The violence has since spread to other parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In a release, Dookeran said TT “joins the international community in denouncing violence that threatens the principles of peace, tolerance and goodwill inherent in all faiths.”

Dookeran yesterday signed a condolence book at the US Embassy Information Resource Centre, Briar Place, Port-of-Spain.

The US Embassy said the condolence book will be opened for signing until September 21 between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm from Monday to Friday.