COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- A Danish Muslim group Tuesday accepted an apology from a newspaper that published offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad but said later that it had decided the statement was ambiguous.
The group did not elaborate and it was unclear if there would be any effect on protests and boycotts of Danish goods in Muslim countries.
The offices of the newspaper Jyllands-Posten were briefly evacuated Tuesday evening after an English-speaking person called in a bomb threat to the switchboard, and an Internet statement purportedly from insurgents in Iraq urged attacks in Denmark and Norway, the first known call for violent reprisals over the cartoons.
The authenticity of the Internet posting in the name of the Mujahedeen Army, which claimed to have shot down a U.S. helicopter in Iraq earlier this month, could not be independently verified.
Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons in September after asking artists to depict Islam's prophet in what was described as a test of self-censorship. The depictions included incendiary images such as Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse.
A Norwegian newspaper reprinted the images this month.
In a statement published late Monday, Jyllands-Posten apologized and said it regretted offending Muslims. It stood by the decision to print the cartoons, saying it was within Danish law.
The drawings "were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize," the daily said Monday.
Danish Muslims said Tuesday that they welcomed the apology. However, 27 Muslim groups met later in the day to discuss the statement and declared it "ambiguous."
"We lack a clear statement where the newspaper apologizes for the offense and stand by it," said Ahmed Akkari, a spokesman for the groups.
The Danish Muslims thanked Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen for saying Monday evening that his government could not apologize on behalf of a newspaper, but that he personally "never would have depicted Muhammad, Jesus or any other religious character in a way that could offend other people."
Associated Press writer Omar Sinan in Cairo, Egypt contributed to this report.
