AMSTERDAM, Feb 6 : Newspapers in the Netherlands, where racial tensions have deepened in recent years, have mostly refrained from publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad, an apparent move to avoid protests, observers say.
Unlike their European neighbours, Dutch newspapers have held back from reprinting the controversial cartoons, a decision that reflects increased Dutch sensititives towards Muslim concerns.
Racial tensions have risen in the Netherlands since the murder of artist Theo van Gogh in 2004 over his film critical of Islam, although the country has a long history of religious and political tolerance, said Hikmat Mahawat Khan of Contact Group Islam, which has 115,000 Muslim supporters.
''Compared to other countries like France, where they publish all the cartoons, we haven't seen that much here,'' he said.
De Telegraaf, a popular daily with a circulation of about 800,000, said it chose not to reprint the provocative drawings to avoid upsetting Dutch Muslims.
''Freedom of speech is important,'' said De Telegraaf's foreign page editor Ruud Mikkers, ''but we don't think it is appropriate to print (such cartoons) right now.'' Many Dutch newspapers, including De Telegraaf, printed similar cartoons in November, including one showing the Prophet Mohammad with a turban resembling a bomb.
But this week only one major daily, the Volkskrant, has published similarly provocative cartoons.
''There is no self-censorship here,'' said Nanda Troost, foreign page editor at the Volkskrant, suggesting rival newspapers had been cowed into not publishing the cartoons.
Other Dutch papers have reported on the issue, and some have reprinted small pictures of pages from other European newspapers, but they have avoided printing the cartoons in full.
Long known for their tolerance, the Dutch have more recently found themselves grappling with racial and religious tensions.
Van Gogh was killed by a self-confessed, Amsterdam-born Muslim radical. Anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn, who was gay and accused Islam of being homophobic, was murdered by an animal rights activist in 2002.
