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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Jan 26, 2006 ? Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Denmark Thursday to protest a published series of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, which provoked a wave of anger in Islamic countries when they were published last year in a leading Danish newspaper. Ambassador Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Hejailan has been posted in Denmark since March 2003. Embassy officials did not answer phone calls Thursday afternoon. The 12 drawings published Sept. 30, 2005 by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten included one showing Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Another portrayed him with a bushy gray beard and holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle. A third pictured a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick in front of a donkey and a sunset. Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry. The anger over the drawings was evident throughout the Saudi capital on Thursday. Outside malls in downtown Riyadh, huge signs read: "Dear brothers, you should hold out purchasing any Danish food stuff because the Danes desecrated our prophet." A flurry of text messages were sent via mobile phones, urging a boycott of Danish goods, such as cheese and cosmetics. "We call on the merchant brothers to stop importing all Danish products for the sake of our beloved prophet," read one message. A convoy of young men drove down one street with white cloth banners streaming from their windows. "We demand all the brothers stop buying Danish products!" one read. "Remove all Danish products from your markets," another urged. The Norwegian evangelical Christian newspaper Magazinet reprinted the pictures on Jan. 10, saying it was defending free expression from such threats. As a result, Norway instructed its embassies in the Middle East to distance themselves from the controversial drawings. In a letter from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, published in the daily newspaper Aftenposten Thursday, the embassies are instructed to say the publication of the drawings has caused "distrust and unnecessary conflicts" between Muslims and the Scandinavian country. The letter also quotes Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere as saying that "I am sorry that the publications of the Prophet Muhammad in the Magazinet has caused unrest in the Muslim community." "I have great understanding that it offends Muslims all over the world," Stoere said, according to Aftenposten. Some bloggers on Saudi Web sites were asking Saudis Thursday to boycott anything carrying the label, "Made in Denmark." In a live television interview on the DR1 channel, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said he had asked the Danish ambassador to Saudi Arabia to get an official explanation for Riyadh's decision to recall its ambassador. He said the government could not interfere with the newspaper, which has refused to apologize for publishing the drawings as a matter of free speech. "We have freedom of speech in Denmark and we have tolerance for other religions," Moeller said. "Like we respect the Arab countries, the Arab countries must respect us," he said in another live television interview. Danish-based Arla Foods, Europe's largest dairy group, said Thursday it had noted sales dropping in Saudi Arabia. The company did not give any figures. Saudi Arabia is one of Arla's largest markets outside Europe. The dairy group produces cheese, milk and butter at a subsidiary in Riyadh. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has rejected calls that he intervene in the matter, saying the government has no sway over media.

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Saudi cleric wants Danish paper punished for cartoons 25 Jan 2006 12:36:59 GMT Source: Reuters RIYADH, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's top cleric has called on Denmark to punish a newspaper that ran cartoons portraying Prophet Mohammad, weighing into a row that has been raging across the Middle East for months. Denmark's largest newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, ran 12 cartoons last September, including one in which Mohammad seems to be carrying a bomb in his turban. Islam considers images of prophets disrespectful and caricatures blasphemous. "I call on officials in the Danish government to call to account the paper that published these cartoons and force it to apologise for its ugly crime," Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh said in a statement published on Wednesday. "It should impose a penalty as a deterrent on those who took part in provoking this subject. That's the least Muslims demand," it said. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and the state-appointed Sheikh is considered by many Sunni Muslims as one of the faith's leading authorities. The Danish government appeared to have diffused the row with a New Year address by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen which defended free speech but urged Danes to exercise the right without inciting hatred against Muslims. The Danish ambassador in Riyadh issued a statement last week saying Denmark respects Islam and stating that the paper publishing the pictures is independent of the government. Arab foreign ministers in December condemned the Danish government for not acting against the newspaper....