Danes in fresh controversy over cartoons of Prophet Muhammad

Published on Tuesday 10 October 2006 01:50

THE Danish government acted quickly yesterday to quell Muslim indignation over a new series of cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad.

It advised its citizens against travelling to the Middle East after a Danish television station aired amateur video footage showing members of the youth wing of the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party (DPP) taking part in a competition to draw images mocking the prophet at a summer camp in August.

Denmark's foreign ministry said a militant group in Gaza had made threats against Danes in the Palestinian areas, and it advised citizens not to travel to Gaza, the West Bank, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. It also cautioned against travel to Israel.

Denmark's second-highest foreign ministry official met ambassadors from Muslim countries in Copenhagen yesterday to explain their position.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister, who was criticised in the Muslim world earlier this year for refusing to apologise for another batch of cartoons that lampooned the prophet, has condemned the behaviour of the DPP activists - the DPP is not a member of the ruling coalition but supports the government in parliament.

In Tehran, the Iranian government summoned Denmark's ambassador to complain about the cartoons broadcast.

Egypt's foreign ministry called the behaviour of DPP activists "childish", saying that it reflected ignorance of Islam, but it urged Muslims to exercise self-restraint.

The 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference also condemned the cartoons, saying the values of tolerance were eroding in Europe.

Lebanon's top Shiite Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, did not blame the Danish government for the drawings, but called for unspecified legal action. "This nonchalance towards the continued insults against Islam could set the stage for negative responses due to inflamed emotions," he said.

A year ago, a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the prophet, including one showing him with a bomb in his turban. Muslim clerics denounced these as blasphemous, and they sparked protests in which more than 50 people died in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.