Trouble flares over Mohammed cartoons

The row over the printing of a number of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammed has spilled over into violence. In several countries around the world Danish flags have been burned and in Beirut in Lebanon and in Damascus in Syria the Danish embassies were attacked and torched by protesters [BBC. The row has already created financial problems for Denmark with several Danish companies now being boycotted in a number of Middle-Eastern countries. In Jordan, two editors, sacked after publishing some of the cartoons, have now been arrested. In Jordan, the Arabic weekly Shihan ran three of the 12 cartoons, including the one that depicts Muhammed as wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse. The headline read: “This is how the Danish newspaper portrayed Prophet Muhammad, may God’s blessing and peace be upon him.” The paper said it was reprinting them to show readers “the extent of the Danish offence". The drawings first appeared in a Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, in September. They have now been reprinted in a Norwegian magazine, in January, and in newspapers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and New Zealand. Some leaders have apologized to Muslims and editorials have also tried to explain their actions over reprinting the cartoons. On the Jyllands-Posten Jyllands-Posten website a notice has been posted – “Open letter to Fellow Muslim citizens - please read”. Part of the message reads, “In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize.” The statement went on to say that “because of culturally based misunderstandings, the initiative to publish the 12 drawings has been interpreted as a campaign against Muslims in Denmark and the rest of the world.” In the name of press freedom, more European newspapers ran the controversial cartoons. The Belgian newspaper De Standaard reproduced the pictures along with letters from readers in favour of publication.
Two New Zealand newspapers, the Dominion-Post in Wellington and The Press in Christchurch - both owned by Australia's Fairfax group - also published the cartoons in defence of freedom of speech.
Rupert Murdoch's flagship newspaper, The Australian, did not publish them, but strongly defended the right of newspapers to do so, saying in an editorial: "Liberal democracies must not give way to bullying when it comes to core values."
Protests in London have been noisy but so far have not descended into violence. However the Metropolitan Police have received dozens of complaints over some of the placards held by some of the protesters. Some were said to be a call to murder with slogans such as “Butcher those who mock Islam” and “Masscre those who insult Islam”. Some protesters were heard to chant “Britain you will pay, 7/7 on its way”, a reference to the terror attacks in London on July 7th 2005. A man was arrested at the demonstration for handing out leaflets depicting some of the offending cartoons [News of the World] . None have been printed in the UK and most broadcasters have pixilated any reproductions used. The BBC has decided not to show the pictures again after only briefly showing them in reports on Thursday. Over 800 complaints were received. The BBC responded saying they did not wish to offend but apologized to any viewers who were offended. One blog did publish some of the cartoons and can be found here. [churchofentropy.blogspot]
Key points

30 Sept: Danish paper publishes cartoons
20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM
10 Jan: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons
26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador
30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU's Gaza office demanding apology
31 Jan: Danish paper apologises
1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons
4 Feb: Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus
5 Feb: Attacks on Danish embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.