The Danish newspaper that published the Mohammed cartoons said Sunday that it had not published an apology to Muslims in Saudi Arabian newspapers, but that these newspapers had simply republished an apology posted on its web site earlier this month.
Full-page advertisements appeared in Asharq al-Awsat, which is printed around the Arab world, as well as the local al-Riyadh and al-Jazira.
"Allow me in the name of Jyllands-Posten to apologize for what happened and declare my strong condemnation of any step that attacks specific religions, ethnic groups and peoples. I hope that with this I have removed the misunderstanding," Carsten Juste, the editor of Jyllands-Posten, was quoted as saying.
"It is extremely important to point out that the aim behind these cartoons was not to attack the Prophet at all or devalue him, but as an opening to dialogue on freedom of expression," the apology said.
"We did not realize at the time how sensitive this issue was for Muslims in Denmark or millions of Muslims around the world."
Jyllands-Posten made it clear Sunday, however, that it had not taken out the ads in Saudi papers.
In recent days, 16 people have died in Nigeria and 11 in Libya during violent protests against cartoons published by the Danish paper last September and since republished in several, mainly European papers.
The global uproar over the cartoons came after Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Denmark last month in response to pressure from clerics and a popular campaign against Danish products in the kingdom, the site of Islam's holiest shrines.
