Arab Newspaper supports Roger Garaudy
 

DUBAI, Jan 11 (AFP) - An Arab newspaper has launched a campaign of solidarity with French writer Roger Garaudy who is on trial in Paris for denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers.

  In a front-page announcement, Al-Khaleej daily in the United Arab Emirates called on its readers to send donations as well as messages of support for Garaudy.

  The aim was to help Garaudy "to continue to oppose the influence of the Zionists in France and to spread his ideas which refute Zionist allegations and unmask the aggressive policies of Israel," it said.

  The philosopher went on trial last Thursday accused of questioning crimes against humanity.

   The charges against Garaudy -- a former communist leader who converted to Islam -- stem from a book he wrote denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers for the extermination of the Jews during World War II.

  The book, published in 1996, sparked a major debate in France. If convicted, Garaudy could face a one-year jail term and a 300,000 French franc (50,000-dollar) fine.

  In Qatar, another Gulf Arab state, a Roger Garaudy support committee has been set up and also plans to collect donations.

  It has called on the Arab world to take action "at a time when a man like Garaudy is on the front line defending the rights of Arabs and Moslems ... against the intellectual terrorism of the Zionists."

  The journalists' union in Egypt has likewise voiced support for the writer.

  In court, Garaudy argued that his trial was the result of a confusion between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.

  "One is a policy I oppose, the other (the Jewish religion) is a religion I respect," he said.