Muslim cartoon row escalates across EU

Denmark is set to step up a diplomatic counter offensive against countries boycotting its goods.

On Friday, Prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet Danish ambassadors to discuss the caricatures that have sparked waves of protest across the Muslim world.

“The Danish government condemns any expression and any action that offends people's religious feelings...we condemn all expressions that attempts to demonise people on the basis of their religion or ethnic background,” Rasmussen told reporters on Thursday.

But he also affirmed his country’s commitment to free expression.

"I myself am very often criticized and I have to accept that because that's part of our society that we have freedom of expression," he added.

Twelve cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammed were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30.

The caricatures include drawings of Muhammed wearing a headdress shaped like a bomb, while another shows him saying that paradise is running short of virgins for suicide bombers

They were later repeated in Norway, France, Germany and aired on the BBC.

EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson criticised media outlets for re-publishing the controversial images, describing them as "crude and juvenile."

Danish boycotts

But the issue also has wider global trade implications - with a number of Muslim countries boycotting Danish products.

The EU trade chief stepped back from a threat to take legal action against any government that supported the ban on Thursday.

WTO action could not be taken against “a spontaneous consumer boycott or one that is privately organised,” Mandelson declared.

International reaction

The issue has generated endless comment in broadsheets and tabloids the world over.

“This is a dangerous issue and people should take note that many commentators are trying to make it the starting point for a clash of civilisations,” journalist Muhammed Ali wrote in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh newspaper.

“We are not facing a clash of civilisations but a clash of values,” EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told Italy’s La Repubblica.

“I understand that the cartoons offended Muslims but national governments are not responsible – they did not publish them. Europe’s member states must do all they can to prevent racist or xenophobic outbursts but all 25 are also determined to defend freedom of expression,” she said.

In France, coulmnist Antoine De Gaudemar in Liberation called for Muslim tolerance.

"Millions of Muslims may feel offended by these drawings…but democracy means allowing your worst enemies to express themselves within the law.”

Le Figaro has done its best to keep out of the heated debated by ruling out publication of the contested images.

“Camus once said there could be no press without freedom. But journalists can also abuse their freedom. That is why Le Figaro will not publish these cartoons,” journalist Yves Thréard pointed out.

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