World Leaders Urge The Egyptian Government to Halt All Violence And Respect Basic Human Rights

With at least eight deaths and 800 injuries resulting as Egyptian protesters, foreign journalists and human rights activists are beaten and arrested, more and more world leaders express their strong aversion for these acts as they urge the Egyptian government to halt all violence and respect basic human rights. These include Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, India’s External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, and Reporters Without Borders Secretary General Jean-Francois Julliard. Other decision makers have also affirmed that the violence must end, in addition to a transition of government now. Among the leaders making such calls are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon , European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, Spain’s Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, US Senate members, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas, and Brazilian Foreign Ministry. Other global leaders calling for a stop to all violence along with the rapid transition to a new government include Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, Czech President Václav Klaus, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Greek President Karolos Papoulias, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Irish President Mary McAleese, Latvia’s President Valdis Zatlers, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Malta’s Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Slovenian President Danilo Türk, Slovakian President Ivan Gašparovič, Portugal’s President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, and Polish President Bronisław Komorowski. As the situation has become more peaceful, we are relieved at the news that more restraint is being practiced during all national protests for an improved Egypt. We thank all the world leaders for your caring messages of peace, and pray that Egypt will be protected in the hands of Heaven.�