Brussels, 03/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The protest expressed by Muslim countries against the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in several European newspapers intensified on Friday, with mass demonstrations held in many Arab countries, and also in Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia. In Naplouse, in the northern West Bank, over 20,000 people took to the streets and burnt Danish, French and Norwegian flags. Demonstrations, apparently organised by Hamas, also took place in Ramallah and Gaza, as well as in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iran (see, amongst others, EUROPE 9120 9123).
Further to a meeting with 76 ambassadors to Denmark on duty in Copenhagen (including a great many from Muslim countries), Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday that (our translation) "the Danish government can never present its apologies on behalf of a free and independent newspaper". Whilst stressing that the freedom of expression was "the most important principle" for Denmark, Mr Rasmussen also said that it was in everybody's interests to "pacify the situation". At the meeting with the ambassadors, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller welcomed the fact that up to now, the call for a boycott of Danish products had not been supported by any government. Threats made against Danish and European citizens are "absolutely unacceptable", he added. In Vienna on Thursday, speaking to the permanent Council of the OSCE, the President of the Council of the EU, Ursula Plassnik, spoke out against "any declaration or activities which denigrate a religion in an offensive manner". The dialogue of the cultures and religions must take place on a daily basis and must be carried out "responsibly", she stressed.