European papers reprint blasphemous cartoons by Luke Harding and Kim Willsher in The Hindu dated 3.2.2006
BERLIN/PARIS: Newspapers in France and Germany on Wednesday reprinted caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, escalating a row over freedom of expression that has already sparked widespread protests in the Muslim world. France Soir and Germany's Die Welt published cartoons which first appeared in a Danish
Newspaper. The caricatures, printed last September in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper and reprinted by a Norwegian magazine, have provoked uproar across West Asia. There have been angry protests in several countries, including in Turkey on Wednesday, as well as a boycott of Danish goods. Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its Ambassador in Copenhagen, while Libya has closed its embassy. On Monday, gunmen from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade briefly occupied the E.U.'s office in the Gaza Strip, demanding that Denmark and Norway apologise. The front page of the daily France Soir, however, carried the defiant headline saying 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. Outrage in Muslim world 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. Muslim groups in both countries, however, were furious. 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. On Wednesday, Carsten Juste, the editor of Jyllands-Posten, which first published the cartoons, said his only regret was that his enemies had won. The row comes at an unpropitious time for Europe. It follows the murder by an Islamist fanatic of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh and rioting in France last year by mainly immigrant youths. France's Muslim community is western Europe's largest, with an estimated 5 million people; 3 million Muslims live in Germany.