February 1, 2006 extract News York Times

Dane Defends Press Freedom as Muslims Protest Cartoons

As Islamic protests spread about cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish prime minister, defended press freedom in his country on Tuesday but distanced himself from the newspaper's decision to publish the drawings. His remarks fell far short of the apology demanded by an array of Islamic groups and countries which have imposed a remarkably successful boycott of Danish products.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministries in Iran and Iraq both summoned Danish diplomats to protest the publication last September of the cartoons, which included one depicting Muhammad wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb. Sudan joined Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim countries in a boycott of Danish products, and some international supermarket chains withdrew Danish dairy products from their stores in many Islamic countries.

In the Middle East, protesters in Gaza took to the streets for a second day. In Tunis, Arab interior ministers called on the Danish authorities to punish those who drew the cartoons, which were also reprinted Jan. 9 by Magazinet, a Christian newspaper in Norway. Islam forbids depictions of the prophet...

Some Islamic leaders in Denmark said they were satisfied by the actions by the Danish newspaper and prime minister. "We will in clear terms thank the prime minister and Jyllands-Posten for what they have done," Kasem Ahmad, a spokesman for the Islamic Religious Community in Denmark told Reuters.

In summery Fogh Rasmussen waffled again pandering to Islamic violence. No wonder the some Danish Islamists were "satisfied."

• Pakistani tells how he killed 4 daughters
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