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It began innocuously enough. Last year the Danish writer Kare Bluitgen had been searching for someone who could illustrate his children's book about the life of the prophet Muhammad. It soon became clear, however, that nobody wanted the job, through fear of antagonising Muslim feelings about images of Muhammad. One artist turned down the commission on the grounds that he didn't want to suffer the...

TWELVE Danish cartoonists whose pictures sparked such outcry have gone into hiding under round-the-clock protection, fearing for their lives. The cartoonists, many of whom had reservations about the pictures, have been shocked by how the affair has escalated into a global "clash of civilisations". They have since tried, unsuccessfully, to stop them being reprinted. A spokesman for the cartoonists...

It's some time since I visited Palestine, so I may be out of date, but I don't remember seeing many Danish flags on sale there. Not much demand, I suppose. I raise the question because, as soon as the row about the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Jyllands-Posten broke, angry Muslims popped up in Gaza City, and many other places, well supplied with Danish flags ready to burn. (In doing so, by...

DUBAI – Denmark is the villain and not the other countries that have reprinted the controversial cartoons insulting to Islam, says a cross-section of Muslims interviewed by your favourite No. 1 newspaper Khaleej Times. The Muslim world will not be satisfied with anything less than an apology from the Danish government and quicker action against those who have offended the sentiments of the Muslim...

Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the controversial cartoons about the prophet Muhammad, today acknowledged it would not have published the drawings had it known the consequences of its decision. In a leader entitled 'What if?", the daily title says "the editor in chief of ... Jyllands-Posten has been asked the natural, but hypothetical, question: what if one had known the...

The furore concerning the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper depicting the prophet Muhammad as a terrorist has yet to abate. In the wake of the government's defeat on the religious hatred bill, many have rushed to the defence of the cartoonists. These voices range from the chattering classes reaching for their book of Voltaire quotes and trumpeting the sanctity of free speech, to the sort of...

The furor continues around the world over cartoons first published in Denmark depicting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, despite apologetic statements from Western politicians and media officials. Violence against Danish government buildings abroad and boycotts of Danish and European products are in force. Reaction from Central and South Asia has ranged from upset but understanding in...

NOW is the time for all good men to come to the aid of political cartoonists. Not this time for the ones losing newspaper jobs, but those whose lives are literally on the line thanks to outraged Islamists offering a bounty for their heads. The cartoonists in question are a dozen Danish artists who drew Muhammad-themed cartoons last September for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten during an...

The Star today defended its decision to publish a controversial cartoon which has offended Muslims across the world. The Dublin-based tabloid is the latest media organisation to show the drawing of prophet Mohammed, which is among a group of cartoons which have sparked unrest in the Middle East. The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV – as well as several European newspapers – have re-run the cartoons...

A Jakarta-based newspaper was criticized by hundreds of protesters on Friday for showing cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad originally published by a Danish newspaper. About 200 members of the Islam Defender Front (FPI), a radical Muslim group reputable for vandalizing nightspots, gathered in front of the office of the Rakyat Merdeka (independent people) newspaper to vent anger over the...