Islamic website team to fly to Denmark for talks

Doha: Representatives of the Doha-based IslamOnline.net will fly to Denmark in a bid to start a dialogue with the local authorities following the cartoon controversy that ignited protests by Muslims across Qatar and the Arab world, local papers said.

Ali Al Quradaghi, a prominent Islamic scholar and vice-president of the popular Islamic web portal, was reported by Qatari papers as saying that the Danish Centre for Dialogue has invited journalists from Qatar to fly to Denmark and sort out the controversy.

He said IslamOnline.net accepted the invitation.

"We are now working on the details of the dialogue and the topics to be discussed," Al Quradaghi was reported as saying, adding that the centre promised to send 40 journalists to attend the event.

Meanwhile, Qatari papers also carried an appeal by Islamic scholar Yousuf Al Qaradawi urging Muslims to keep restraint while protesting against the cartoons on the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Addressing people during a sermon at Omar Bin Khatab mosque in Doha, Al Qaradawi expressed sorrow over the attacks against embassies and consulates that took place in some countries following the controversy, the papers said.

"When we declared last Friday as a day of anger, we wanted this anger to be expressed reasonably and wisely.

"I deplore the violations in some countries where embassies, consulates, churches and private properties were burnt down," the Peninsula reported Al Qaradawi as saying.

"This was a war imposed on us, not one we longed for. We were attacked without any reason and we had all the right to express our anger on behalf of Allah and His Prophet. We wanted to convey to the world that we would not keep silent when our Prophet is insulted," Al Qaradawi said.

"We asked people to express their fury in a positive manner, not to kill or attack anybody," he said.

Al Qaradawi also renewed a call for boycott of Danish products.