Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The New Straits Times, the flagship newspaper of Malaysia's second-biggest publisher, said the government may take action against it over a Wiley Miller cartoon it published following complaints it insults the prophet Muhammad.
``The matter is in the hands of the authorities,'' New Straits Times (M) Bhd. Group Editor-in-Chief Hishamuddin Aun said in a statement published on the front page of the newspaper today. ``Everyone should allow the law to take its course.''
The Miller cartoon, which lampoons the ongoing furor over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad first published in a Danish newspaper in September, sparked complaints to police by Malaysia's Islamic opposition party, Parti Islam SeMalaysia, and three non-governmental organizations.
Anger at caricatures of Muhammad first published in Denmark and subsequently reprinted in newspapers around the world have triggered protests globally, with violent demonstrations in Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Protesters have been killed in demonstrations in Libya and Nigeria.
The New Straits Times got a show-cause letter from the Internal Security Ministry and was given three days to explain in writing why action shouldn't be taken against it for publishing the cartoon, which the ministry said breached the conditions of the newspaper's publishing permit.
The tabloid on Feb. 20 published a cartoon by Non Sequitur creator Miller, 54, showing an artist on a chair waiting for customers seeking caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. The cartoon was distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.
`Offensive'
The picture is captioned, ``Kevin finally achieves his goal to be the most feared man in the world,'' and shows Kevin, an artist, sitting with a sketch pad beside a sign that says, ``Caricatures of Muhammad while you wait.''
Following complaints, the paper reprinted the cartoon yesterday alongside an editorial asking the people and government to ``judge if it was really offensive,'' it said.
The publisher's Chief Executive Officer Syed Faisal Albar and Aun met with senior officials of the Internal Security Ministry to explain to them the newspaper's work process, the statement said.
About 60 percent of Malaysians follow Islam, which prohibits the creation of images of Muhammad.
The government earlier this month revoked the permit of the Sarawak Tribune for reprinting the Danish cartoons. It also suspended the Guang Ming Daily's evening edition for two weeks after the Chinese-language newspaper published a photograph of a person reading a newspaper which carried the caricatures.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chan Tien Hin in Kuala Lumpur thchan@bloomberg.net
