Danish Papers Reprint Muhammad Cartoon

To "Unambiguously Back" Freedom; Images Of Prophet Sparked Mass Outcry 2 Years Ago

(AP)  Denmark's leading newspapers on Wednesday reprinted a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked deadly rioting in Muslim countries two years ago.

The papers said they wanted to show their firm commitment to freedom of speech after Tuesday's arrest in western Denmark of three people accused of plotting to kill the man who drew the cartoon, which shows Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse.

The drawing by Kurt Westergaard and 11 other cartoons depicting Muhammad enraged Muslims two years ago when they appeared in a range of Western newspapers.

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

The Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which first published the 12 drawings on Sept. 30, 2005, reprinted Westergaard's cartoon in its print edition Wednesday. Several other major dailies, including Politiken and Berlingske Tidende, also reprinted the drawing.

"We are doing this to document what is at stake in this case, and to unambiguously back and support the freedom of speech that we as a newspaper will always defend," said the Copenhagen-based Berlingske Tidende.

Tabloid Ekstra Bladet reprinted all 12 drawings.

At least three European newspapers - in Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain - also reprinted the cartoon as part of their coverage of the Danish arrests.

The decision by the Danish papers came in response to Tuesday's news that intelligence police had arrested two Tunisians and a Danish citizen of Moroccan origin for plotting to kill Westergaard.

The Danish suspect was released Tuesday after questioning, his lawyer, Henning Lyngsbo, said.

"He has no knowledge about the case," Lyngsbo told The Associated Press. "It doesn't seem that the evidence is very strong."

Intelligence service chief Jakob Scharf had indicated the man would be released, but could still face charges of violating a Danish terror law. The two Tunisians are to be expelled from Denmark because they are considered threats to national security, Scharf said.

Danish Muslim leaders condemned the alleged murder plot, but also said reprinting Westergaard's cartoon was the wrong way to protest.

"There could have been other ways to do it without the drawing, which I personally do not like," Abdul Wahid Petersen, a moderate imam, told AP.

Imam Mostafa Chendid, the leader of the Islamic Faith Community, said his group was considering staging a rally in front of Parliament. The Copenhagen-based group spearheaded protests against the cartoons in 2006.

"We are so unhappy about the cartoon being reprinted," Chendid told AP. "No blood was ever shed in Denmark because of this, and no blood will be shed. We are trying to calm down people, but let's see what happens. Let's open a dialogue."

Massive protests swept the Muslim world in early 2006 after the publication of the cartoons. Danes watched in disbelief as angry mobs burned the Danish flag and attacked the country's embassies in Muslim countries including Syria, Iran and Lebanon. Danish products were boycotted in several Muslim countries.

The Danish Foreign Ministry said its diplomatic missions worldwide were monitoring the situation for any signs of unrest related to the cartoon.

"We have no information about events or reactions that leads us to change our security assessment for Danish citizens," said Uffe Wolffhechel of the ministry's consular department.

[correctpath]

every one in this world have freedom of speech according to their own country. But you dont have any right to go for the other religion and draw something about them.
You people it is freedom of speech but not a freedom of drawing.

Inshallah danish will pay for this in the future and these are the symbols of the arrival.

danish you will destroy yourself.

[bobbiekeslin]

God Bless The Danish

[geratric1943]

Finally, someone is standing up for free speech rights that are slowly being taken away from us by politically correct idiots.

[zootallures2]

How about the 9/11 cartoons? Your profit the pancake man who murders his own people....

[zootallures2]

There is an old saying:"While in Rome, do as Romans do" Apparantly the ...
Posted by dumbshun at 05:27 AM : Feb 14, 2008

Apparently you are not living in a tee pee and the president doesn''t have any feathers on his head.

[cbs_oliver]

Freedom of speach is strange sometimes.

On Crystal Nacht, I would imagine that anyone was free to say whatever vile thing they wanted to say about the Jews. But let someone say, "For God''s sake, stop!" and they would have been killed.

[cbs_oliver]

The Danes are primarilly proving that they are bigots.

But we knew that already.

[slim1h2o]

If they don''''t want to obey our Laws, shouldn''''t they be stripped of their citizenship(i.e. if they are citizens) and deported/expelled?

Posted by dumbshun at 05:27 AM : Feb 14, 2008

Yes,, they should be deported! I''m tired of people wanting to come here, and enjoy our freedoms, our economy, just to shove their beliefs down our throats.

And if we resist,, we are somehow racists, biggots, or whatever. The PC crowd would love to hand over our country to these terrorists, illegals, and scums that have little or no interest in continueing this great country .

[fibonacci_]

"cartoon controversy" - oh.

[jerkeedoodle]

I like it.Grab ''em by the tail and rub the intolerant S.O.B.s'' fur the wrong way.Did you I S L A M is actually initials?It stands for Idiotic,Stupid,Lunatic,Asocial,Morons.BTW,I named my new dog Mohammad in honor of the English school teacher these same nuts went balistic over.He''s a Mexican hairless.

[krotec54]

How dare these Muslims tell the free world what we can and cannot do...if they don%u2019t like how we live, they can stay in their own country.
Islam should be banned in Western civilization.

[revspitz]

I''m glad they printed the picture. I see this story did not do so.

[dbsavoy-2009]

zootallures2 said: Next week, they plan to sent reporters out to yell fire in a theater...

Well, OK, then since my religion worships Heat Miser and any profane use of the word "fire" is blasphemy, and don''t try to tell me it isn''t, infidel, well then I guess they got it coming to them when I blow them up with the power of Heat Miser concentrated in a wad of holy C4.

[zootallures2]

at least the Danes still have freedom of press.

Posted by mudmarine03 at 11:58 PM : Feb 13, 2008

"America bombs it''s own towers for fun and profit"

I''ll bet...LOL!

[zootallures2]

Next week, they plan to sent reporters out to yell fire in a theater. And if no news and attention comes to Denmark, they''ll try it by actually setting fires.

Enthusiasm test? The war on terror is losing it''s spunk... how about a war on the Danish. Wooden shoes... come on, these people are uncivilized and backward... go get ''em US military!

[kansas1946]

Well, good for the newspaper. I don''t know when these nuts are going to figure out that people can disagree with each other, even despise another person actions, or words, we can fuss and fight, and even not speak to each other. But to run around killing people unless they are directly threatening your life is insane.

[rhs648]

If rioting, mayhem, and murder result from publishing the cartoon, you can be sure that the Muslim apologists and sympathiers will be out in full force defending the Muslim reaction. Spend some time reading what is posted and you can soon make a list of who they are. Sadly, a cartoon means more to them than human life. Is this the difference between modern western culture and the Muslim world?

[cbs_oliver]

The Danes are near the forfront of anti Muslim bigotry and the Danish Queen and the Lutherin State Religion lead the way.

The queen, quoted in a authorised biography, said people had to take the "challenge" of Islam seriously.

"We have let this issue float around for too long, because we are tolerant and rather lazy," she said.
The queen said Muslims should learn Danish properly, so they would not feel excluded from society.

In the book Margrethe, written by journalist Annelise Bistrup, the queen is quoted as voicing disapproval of "these people for whom religion is their entire life".

Calling for opposition to radical Islam, she said: "We have to run the risk of being labelled in an unflattering way, because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance."

More than 400,000 of Denmark''s 5.4 million inhabitants are immigrants, but only about 150,000 are Muslims, amounting to 3% of the population.

However, that still makes them the second-largest religious group in Denmark behind the Lutheran-Evangelical Church, of which the queen is supreme governor and to which 85% of the population belong.

The Danish Queen was at pains in her autobiography to minimize the role her father, the Danish King, played in standing up for the Danish Jews against the Nazis.

[dbsavoy-2009]

jncc1701: the point of your post, however, was really about religion in the public/ political sphere, so I almost completely am on board with you there. Not 100%, unless you''d agree, for example, that the civil-rights movement was politics of a kind, and M.L. King was political in his way. If you agreed with that, and agreed that his openly politico-religious appeal was pretty groovy and quite alright, then I''m with you 100%.

[dbsavoy-2009]

jncc1701, there is much difference between the "priests who are the enemies of liberty" (I agree in essence) and the doers of right who are guided by the love of god. To cast off god as "Zeus or Santa" is, well, OK it''s a da*n funny line, guy, you made me laugh, but still. This is not wisdom.