Newspapers in France and Germany on Wednesday reprinted caricatures of the prophet Mohammed, escalating a row over freedom of expression that has already sparked widespread protest in the Muslim world.
France Soir and Germany's Die Welt published cartoons which first appeared in a Danish newspaper. They include one showing a bearded Mohammed with a bomb fizzing out of his turban. The caricatures, printed last September in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper and reprinted by a Norwegian magazine, have provoked uproar across the Middle East.
There have been angry protests in several countries as well as a boycott of Danish goods. Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its ambassador to Copenhagen, while Libya has closed its embassy. On Monday, gunmen from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade briefly occupied the EU's office in the Gaza Strip, demanding that Denmark and Norway apologize.
PHOTO: AFP
The front page of the daily France Soir, however, carried the defiant headline: "Yes, we have the right to caricature God," and a cartoon of Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian gods floating on a cloud. Inside, the paper ran the drawings.
The centre-right Die Welt also ran the caricature on the front page, reporting that Muslim groups had forced the Danish newspaper to issue an apology. The outrage in the Muslim world was hypocritical, the paper said, pointing out that Syrian television had depicted Jewish rabbis as cannibals.
Roger Koppel, editor-in-chief of Die Welt, said he had no regrets. "It's at the very core of our culture that the most sacred things can be subjected to criticism, laughter and satire. If we stop using our journalistic right of freedom of expression within legal boundaries then we start to have a kind of appeasement mentality," he said.
"This is a remarkable issue. It's very important we did it. Without this there would be no Life of Brian," Koppel said.
Muslim groups in both countries, however, were furious. "It's odious and we totally disapprove of it," Dalil Boubakeur, the president of the French Muslim Council, said. "It's a real provocation towards the millions of Muslims in France."
The council was planning legal action against France Soir, he said, adding that he intended to complain to Denmark's ambassador.
The "blasphemous" cartoons were reminiscent of the caricatures of Jews published by the Nazi propaganda sheet Der Sturmer, Michael Mohammed Pfaff, of the German Muslim League said. "Press freedom is a noble goal. But it shouldn't be used to insult people. We Germans need to know our history," he added.
The row has plunged Denmark into a diplomatic crisis, with the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on Monday begging Arab countries not to boycott Danish products. Firms such as Lego and Bang & Olufsen have been boycotted, and a Danish milk firm in Riyadh has been forced to close down. The Arab League has condemned the cartoons, demanding those responsible "be punished."
On the internet, Iraqi militant groups have threatened attacks against Danish troops, while Muslim hackers have tried to shut down the Danish newspaper's website.
Denmark's defense minister has said the 500 Danish soldiers stationed in southern Iraq are now in danger. The garrison is on a state of high alert.
On Wednesday Carsten Juste, the editor of Jyllands-Posten, which first published the cartoons, said his only regret was that his enemies had "won."
"My guess is no one will draw the prophet Mohammed in Denmark in the next generation, and therefore I must say with deep shame that they have won," he added.
Asked whether he made a mistake in publishing the cartoons, he said: "Had we known that it would lead to boycotts and Danish lives being endangered as we have seen, then the answer is no."
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