Denmark has temporarily withdrawn its ambassadors from Syria, Iran and Indonesia because their safety was at risk, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
Denmark's embassy buildings in all three countries had been targeted by angry mobs protesting the prophet Muhammed drawings published in a Danish newspaper.
The Foreign Ministry said it withdrew all Danish staff from its embassy in Tehran because of "serious and concrete threats" against the ambassador.
Threats had also been directed at the embassy personnel in Indonesia, the ministry said, without giving details.
The Finnish Embassy was to take over Denmark's consular services in Tehran, while the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta would handle the same duties in Indonesia, the Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier yesterday, the ministry announced it had temporarily pulled back its ambassador and other Danish staff from Syria because they were not getting enough protection from authorities.
The building housing the embassy in Damascus was burned by protesters last week.
The diminishing security for "the ambassador and his staff to an inadequate level is the reason for the departure," the ministry said in a statement.
It said that the German Embassy in Damascus would handle Denmark's consular services for the time being.
Sweden, whose embassy is in the same building in the Syrian capital, said it did not have any immediate plans to withdraw staff, said Jan Janonius, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm.
Denmark temporarily closed its diplomatic mission in Lebanon earlier this week after similar protests there.
The small Scandinavian country is shell-shocked by the wave of anti-Danish protests, some of them violent, that have spread like wildfire across the Muslim world.
Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, which published the cartoons in September, apologized for offending Muslims but stood by its decision to print the drawings, citing the freedom of speech.
Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators including London mayor Ken Livingstone were due to rally in the capital yesterday to protest about the publication of Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Organizers said the aim was to allow the UK's Muslim community to express concern about growing Islamophobia across Europe but also to appeal for calm.
Last week, about 400 angry protesters gathered outside the Danish embassy in London carrying placards with slogans such as "Massacre those who insult Islam."
The scenes provoked calls from politicians and mainstream Muslim organizations for police to take action against those involved. One man who dressed as a suicide bomber has since been arrested for breaching his prison parole order.
"The first message we want to send to the country is that of the legitimate voice of the Muslim community as opposed to those that hijacked last week's demonstration outside the Danish embassy," the organizers said in a statement.
Appealing to Muslims to remain peaceful, they added: "It may appear to them that there is a great Western conspiracy against their faith, but there are a large number of people who are on the side of reconciliation, and we hope that comes out loud and clear today."
Yesterday's rally has the backing of numerous Islamist groups, including the Muslim Association of Britain and the Muslim Council of Britain.
In related news, Saudi Arabia's top cleric called on the world's Muslims to reject apologies for the "slanderous" caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed and demanded instead that the authors and publishers of the offending cartoons be tried and punished, Saudi newspapers reported yesterday.
Speaking to hundreds of his faithful at his Friday sermon, Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Seedes, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, called on the international community to enact laws that condemn insults against the prophet and holy sites.
"Where is the world with all its agencies and organizations? Is there only freedom of expression when it involves insults to Muslims? With one voice ... we will reject the apology and demand a trial," Al Riyad, a Saudi daily newspaper, quoted al-Seedes as saying.
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