Newspapers in France and Germany reprinted Danish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad yesterday, saying press freedom was more important than the protests and boycotts the cartoons have sparked across the Muslim world.
The Danish embassy in Damascus was evacuated after a bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax and Syria recalled its ambassador from Denmark in protest against the cartoons, one of which shows the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.
In Copenhagen, security police met Islamic leaders in a bid to calm reactions there. Muslims consider images of prophets distasteful and caricatures blasphemous. Dalil Boubakeur, head of the French Muslim Council, denounced the publication of the drawings as a "provocation".
Burhan Kesici, a leader of Germany's Turkish community, said they reduced Islam "to two or three terrorists".
Two large Danish companies reported their sales falling in the Middle East after the incident led to protests in the Arab world and calls for boycotts.
"Enough lessons from these reactionary bigots!" France Soir editor Serge Faubert wrote in a commentary explaining why his newspaper had printed the cartoons. Just because the Koran bans images of Muhammad doesn't mean non-Muslims have to submit to this."
Germany's Die Welt printed a similar piece to accompany the cartoons. "There is no right to be shielded from satire in the West," it said. "Christianity has been the object of ruthless criticism . . . being able to make fun of the holiest things is a non-negotiable core tradition in our culture."
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said France supported press freedom, which "should be exercised in a spirit of tolerance and respect for beliefs and religions".
Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons last September, has apologised for any hurt they may have caused. The Danish government says it cannot tell free media what to do.
Danish police said in a statement they had told Denmark's imams they were "highly aware of the risks of an escalation of the case, including the calls to burn the Koran, which these days flourish on the internet and via SMS (phone messages)". Such calls could be attempts by right-wing extremists to exploit the conflict, police said.
Mr Boubakeur, who is also rector of the Paris Grand Mosque, called France Soir's decision to reprint the cartoons "a genuine provocation towards France's millions of Muslims".
Thousands of Palestinians protested against Denmark this week, and Arab ministers called on it to punish Jyllands-Posten.
Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Copenhagen and Libya has closed its embassy. Qatar condemned the cartoons.
The Danish-Swedish dairy firm Arla Foods, with annual Middle East sales of almost $500 million, said it might have to cut 140 jobs due to the boycott. - (Reuters)