Cartoon protest in brief

100 militants offer to become suicide bombers
Kandahar - One hundred militants have enlisted to become suicide bombers in Afghanistan since the appearance of "blasphemous" cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), a top Taliban commander said yesterday.

Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taliban's most senior military commanders, said his militant group had also offered a reward of 100 kilogrammes of gold to anyone who killed people responsible for the drawings. "More than 100 mujahedin [holy warriors] have enlisted to carry out suicide attacks," the fugitive Dadullah said by telephone from an unknown location.

Paper not to print Holocaust cartoons
Copenhagen - The top editor of the Danish newspaper whose caricatures of the Prophet sparked rage throughout the Islamic world has said the daily would not reprint Holocaust cartoons being solicited by an Iranian newspaper. Editor-in-Chief Carsten Juste said Wednesday his newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, "in no circumstances will publish Holocaust cartoons from an Iranian newspaper."

Canada flays violence over caricatures
Ottawa - Canada's new Conservative government on Wed-nesday condemned the violence over incendiary editorial cartoons of the Prophet and advised that freedom of expression be used responsibly.

New Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay issued a statement noting that the drawings, which appeared in some European publications, have caused offense in Canada and abroad. "However, we condemn the violent protests that have occurred in some parts of the world, and find the attacks on foreign diplomatic missions particularly deplorable," he said.

Two Danes not to attend Saudi meeting
Dubai - Two Danish guest speakers have declined an invitation to attend the Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF) 2006, officials said. "Their decision was entirely their own," said Amr Hassan Enany, Chairman, JEF said in commenting on reports that Danish delegates will not be participating in light of the the massive protests worldwide.

The Forum, "is an international event with a multinational gathering.....we don't take any political stances".