International

3 February 2006

Spain's El Pais prints front page Mohammad cartoon

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's leading newspaper El Pais on Friday became part of a growing international row by publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad on its front page. The cartoon, originally published by France's Le Monde, portrayed the head of the Prophet Mohammad made up of lines which say "I must not draw Mohammad" in French. Newspapers in France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Hungary...

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3 February 2006

Danish ambassador to forward newspaper apology in Indonesia

The Danish Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia was the target of a demonstration today by 200 – 300 people from the Front of the Defenders of Islam (FPI) who were protesting to show their contempt for drawings of the Prophet Muhammad featured last year in a Danish newspaper. The protesters smashed lamps with bamboo sticks and threw chairs around, and shouted "Allahu Akbar" meaning "God is Great". They...

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2 February 2006

British press refuses to print Mohammed cartoons

British newspapers have refused to publish the controversial Mohammed cartoons that this week prompted a violent backlash from Muslims across the world. Broadcasters took a different view and last night the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all showed fleeting images of the cartoons. The row over cartoons of the Islam founder began last week after a senior Saudi Arabian cleric denounced Danish paper Jyllands...

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2 February 2006

Danish writer reflects on uproar

COPENHAGEN: As a Danish citizen of Pakistani descent, a onetime television anchor and now a prominent author married to a Dane, Rushy Rashid has led what could be depicted as a high-profile life. But, she said, nothing has forced her to define her attitude to fellow Muslims quite so much as Denmark's bitter fight with much of the Islamic world over a newspaper's decision to print unflattering...

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2 February 2006

Danish Imams accused of doublespeak

PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen lashed out at extremist Muslim leaders in Denmark on Thursday for speaking with two tongues in the on-going row between the country and the Muslim world. Rasmussen said imams' positive comments in Danish about the recent days' thaw in the dispute over newspaper Jyllands-Posten's publication of 12 caricatures of the prophet Mohammed had been undermined by statements made in...

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2 February 2006

PM gives Danish side to Arab media

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen initiated a media offensive in Arab media yesterday. The prime minister sought to present Denmark's point of view in the on-going dispute between Muslim countries and Denmark over daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten's publication of 12 Mohammed caricatures. 'The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I have initiated what I would call a media offensive aimed at Arab...

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2 February 2006

Cartoon Rage vs. Freedom of Speech

These cartoons are much less offensive than what is routinely printed in every American newspaper about presidents, presidential candidates, and other pols. Yet strange as it may seem to Western non-Muslims, the rage over them seems to grow with each passing day – until the global scale of the response to it has now involved ambassadors from many countries, the United Nations, international...

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2 February 2006

Gunmen shut EU Gaza office over cartoons

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian gunmen Thursday shut down the European Union's office in Gaza City, demanding an apology for German, French and Norwegian newspapers reprinting cartoons featuring the prophet Mohammad, Palestinian security sources said. The gunmen left a notice on the EU office's door that the building would remain closed until Europeans apologize to Muslims, many of whom consider...

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2 February 2006

Moroccan government condemns caricatures of Prophet

Rabat, Feb. 2 - The Moroccan government condemned, here Thursday, the publication by some European newspapers of offensive cartoons against prophet Muhammad (PBUH) under the fallacious pretext of defending the freedom of speech. "The caricatures harm the Prophet and are a provocation act that offend Muslims' feelings," said Moroccan government spokesman, Nabil Benabdallah. Speaking at a press...

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2 February 2006

French newspaper enters Muslim cartoon row

A French newspaper has reproduced a set of Danish caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad that have caused outrage in the Muslim world. France Soir said it had published the cartoons to show that "religious dogma" had no place in a secular society. Their publication in Denmark led to protests in several Arab nations. Responding to France Soir's move, the French government said it supported...

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