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Muslims protest at Swedish cartoon

Sep 01 2007

Muslims protest at Swedish cartoon

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By Agencies

A small counter-demonstration against Iranian and Pakistani complaints was held in Oerebro[EPA]
About 200 Muslims in Sweden have demonstrated against a newspaper cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a dog, police said.

Muslims protesters on Friday called for a ban on blasphemy against the prophet and demanded an apology from Nerikes Allehanda, a local newspaper, which published the drawing on August 18.

The cartoon was used to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship, freedom of expression and religion.

Torbjoern Carlson, a police spokesman in Oerebro where the newspaper is based said: "The protest was calm, there were no arrests."

Protesters, some chanting slogans and carrying banners, marched several blocks under rainy skies to the newspaper's office.

Jamal Lamhamdi, the leader of the Islamic cultural centre in Oerebro, held a 15-minute meeting with the Ulf Johansson, the editor-in-chief of Nerikes Allehanda, Carlson said.

Meanwhile, a small group of demonstrators staged a counter-protest, their mouths symbolically gagged.

Angry reactions

The publication of the cartoon prompted angry reactions from Iran and Pakistan, which have both summoned Swedish diplomats to receive protests.

The 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference has also condemned the publication and urged the Swedish government to punish the artist and the publisher as well as demand an apology.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, told the TT news agency on Friday that he would defend Sweden's "freedom of expression, which is written into our constitution and ... which means that we don't make political decisions about what is published in newspapers."

The cartoon was drawn as part of a series by Lars Vilks, a provocative Swedish artist.

Several art galleries have refused to display the sketches because of fears of angry reactions from Muslims.

Vilks said he had received "several death threats by telephone, email, and comments to my blog" and that he planned to file a police complaint and seek protection.

The cartoon's publication comes a year after deadly riots in several countries against 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in Denmark's biggest daily newspaper.