New agitations over cartoons of Prophet Mohammed

October 11, 2006

Amateur footage of members of the Danish People's Party drawing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed were aired on Danish Television last week, prompting protests by Muslim groups.

The footage shows party youth members in a competition to draw cartoons, during a summer camp in August.

There have been protests in Egypt and Iran, also by Muslim groups in many parts of the world.

Iran lodged a protest over the issue, saying it was "deplorable that the extremist elements in Danish society have attempted to sabotage Denmark's relations with the Islamic countries once again".

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the drawings "tasteless" and "unacceptable", but insisted that he cannot control content shown in the media.

Two youths featured in the film have gone into hiding.

In 2005 there was also trouble over Danish cartoons of Mohammed.