The Cartoon Row

PARIS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Denmark's far-right anti-immigrant party has drawn new support from voters angry about the row over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, but other extreme right-wing parties in Europe failed to capitalise on the dispute. The backlash against protests by Muslims offended by European newspapers printing caricatures of the Prophet has prompted suggestions that Europeans will...

DOHA, February, 15 2006, (IslamOnline.net) – The Norwegian parliament has amended the Penal Code to criminalize blasphemy in the wake of the republication of Danish cartoons that lampooned Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by a Norwegian magazine, Christian and Muslim leaders in Norway said on Tuesday, February 14. "Law 150-A, which has been approved by parliament, criminalizes...

RIYADH, Feb 15 (KUNA) -- Permanent representatives of member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) said on Wednesday they reserve the right to call for an urgent OIC foreign ministers meeting if Denmark kept on its "negative" position regarding publishing anti-Islam cartoons in the Danish press. The member states' representatives to the Riyadh-based organization said in a...

ROME, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- An Italian government minister said Wednesday he will wear T-shirts featuring the Prophet Mohammed cartoons that have sparked global incidences of violence. Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli rejected accusations the T-shirts were meant to provoke Muslims, but added there was no reason to attempt a dialogue with religious extremists. "I have had T-shirts made with the...

Muslim students are upset by the Badger Herald newspaper's decision to reprint one of the notorious cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Muslim students at UW-Madison have met with campus officials, are planning a campus forum on Tuesday, and are considering whether to stage protests. The cartoons, originally published in a right-wing Danish newspaper in September, have sparked worldwide...

RIYADH/JEDDAH, 15 February 2006 – Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal yesterday called for European countries to prevent a repeat of the blasphemous cartoon scandal triggered by a Danish daily newspaper. Speaking to reporters after meeting with Dutch counterpart Bernard Bot in Riyadh, Prince Saud said that measures were essential to maintain the existing good relations between the European...

RIYADH, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Western firms in the Middle East said on Wednesday they were wary of attacks or protests relating to worldwide uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, but saw no immediate danger. Protesters attacked Western businesses in Pakistan on Tuesday and police used teargas in Islamabad's diplomatic enclave in the latest violence over the drawings, first printed last year...

BRUSSELS, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Maybe Samuel Huntington was right after all. In 1993, the Harvard professor published a seminal essay in "Foreign Affairs" in which he predicted that a "clash of civilizations" would dominate global politics for the foreseeable future. Ever since, it has become something of a ritual for world leaders to rubbish Huntington's thesis and play down the differences between a...

HELSINKI, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja has sent an open letter to newspapers in several Muslim countries, condemning the intentional hurting of others' religiousfeelings, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release Wednesday. Tuomioja also appealed for restraint over the cartoon controversy. "Liberty of expression is a fundamental value and a democratic right in...

KEHL AM RHEIN, Germany, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Germany may have a cartoon scandal of its own after a caricature in a Berlin newspaper provoked hate mail and even death threats for the caricaturist. The German daily Tagesspiegel last Friday published a caricature by artist Klaus Stuttmann, who attempted the German conservatives' eagerness to use army soldiers to safeguard the upcoming FIFA Soccer World...