The Cartoon Row

PARIS, March 1, 2006 (UPI) -- A group of a dozen prolific writers have written a statement condemning the violent reaction to the publishing of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Most of the writers have been threatened for writing perceived anti-Muslim works, the BBC reports. The writers' statement said the upheaval shows the need to address freedom, secular values and religious fanaticism. It was...

Rik Torfs, a leading law professor in Europe, said Muslims will not win any case they may open against the publishing of insulting cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed. Though European leaders, especially Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen, have indicated Muslims may initiate legal proceedings on all occasions, Professor Torfs said, "Muslim groups cannot obtain any success in the field of law."...

PARIS - Political cartoonists in the United States, the Middle East and elsewhere fear their profession risks becoming a victim of the worldwide furor provoked by Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. More than angry Muslims, some artists see a threat in their own paymasters - who they suspect may start trying to tame controversial art. "These are not good times for political cartoonists...

President Bush has said that making America more secure and defeating terrorists requires more democratic reforms in the Middle East. Among the ways, he said during his State of the Union speech, were by "offering the hopeful alternative of political freedom and peaceful change." His Greater Middle East Initiative, launched two years ago, was supposed to do just that by transforming the region...

Cartoons depicting Jesus in a Radford University online student magazine have created controversy just weeks after Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad touched off violent protests throughout the Muslim world. In his "Christ on Campus" comic strip, sophomore Christian Keesee has satirized what he sees as the hypocrisy of some churchgoing students, the greed of some televangelists and the...

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A soft-spoken man who bears the weight of global problems traveled from New York to Doha, Qatar, this past weekend to plea for calm dialogue among civilizations in face of deadly riots in reaction to cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan saw in a high-level meeting Sunday of the Alliance of Civilizations a venue for that...

Today, an online newspaper with links to Michigan State University’s journalism program became the first news outlet in the state to publish controversial Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The online publication drew immediate complaints from local Muslims and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Dawud Walid, Michigan director for the group. Calling the cartoons offensive...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU foreign ministers on Monday (27 February) changed the wording of a statement on the Danish cartoon row at the insistence of Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot, who wanted to avoid the suggestion of an EU apology towards the Muslim world. Meeting in Brussels, the ministers issued a fresh statement on the violence that recently erupted in some muslim countries following...

The Oulu-based Finnish cultural magazine Kaltio fired its editor Jussi Vilkuna after he refused to remove a cartoon on its website featuring Prophet Muhammad wearing a mask and discussing freedom of speech with a cartoonist. The controversial cartoon has since been removed from the magazine's website. After the posting of the cartoon, many permanent advertisers including the Finnish insurance...

Volgograd, February 27, Interfax - The first issue of a newspaper, which is to replace the closed Gorodskiye Vesti, will be released in Volgograd on Tuesday. Gorodskiye Vesti was closed for publishing a religious cartoon. The lower Volga department of the federal service monitoring media compliance with the law and protecting cultural heritage registered the new paper, Volgogradskaya Gazeta, on...