http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=QJF5YAPW4RGHBQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2006/01/31/wdane31.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/01/31/ixworld.html
Danes face fury over cartoons of Prophet By David Rennie in Brussels (Filed: 31/01/2006) A Danish newspaper apologised to Muslims last night after provoking fury in the Arab world by running cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed The backlash led to street protests, threats to Scandinavians in the Palestinian territories and a boycott of Danish goods, including Lego. The depth of anger is so great that it was too early last night to tell if the apology would quell the row. Jyllands-Posten, a centre-Right daily newspaper, first published the cartoons four months ago. Some were artistic portraits of the Prophet, others depicted him satirically, with a bomb-shaped turban, or grinning between two veiled women while brandishing a dagger. They were reproduced this month in a Norwegian Christian magazine, Magazinet. Peter Mandelson, the European Union trade commissioner, told Saudi Arabia that the EU would take action at the World Trade Organisation if it found that it encouraged the shunning of Danish goods. The Saudi government denied playing any such role. Mr Mandelson, who is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, told the Saudis that a boycott against Denmark would be treated as a boycott against the entire EU. Arla Foods, based in Denmark and Europe's largest dairy group, said the boycott in the Middle East was almost total, with its products removed from shelves in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The Middle East is Arla's main market outside Europe, worth £240 million a year. The Danish foreign ministry warned citizens to postpone non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia, while urging Danes to be cautious in other Muslim countries. The Danish Red Cross withdrew two employees from Gaza and one from Yemen. Saudi Arabia recalled its envoy from Denmark, Libya closed its embassy in Copenhagen, and thousands of Palestinians marched in protest. Masked Palestinian gunmen demonstrated outside an EU office in Gaza yesterday and said they would prevent Danes and Norwegians from entering the territory until Copenhagen apologised. In a possible misunderstanding of Scandinavian geography, the Swedish consulate in Jerusalem received a fax claiming to be from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the violent group linked to the Palestinian Fatah party, warning all Danes and Swedes to leave the area within 48 hours. Swedish officials said they were taking the threats seriously. Arla has attempted to take out advertisements in Saudi newspapers, stating that the Danish government respects Islam, but the daily Al-Watan refused to carry one, saying it offered no apology. The Danish government has consistently refused to apologise. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister, has said his country respected the religious values of all its citizens, but argued that his government had no power to curb press freedoms. [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
