World | Other World Stories
Danish lawmakers cancel trip to Iran over cartoon
Ten Danish lawmakers have cancelled a trip to Iran amid a diplomatic row over the reprinting of a drawing of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) on Danish newspapers.
- Agencies
- Published: 09:08 February 17, 2008
Copenhagen: Ten Danish lawmakers have cancelled a trip to Iran amid a diplomatic row over the reprinting of a drawing of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) on Danish newspapers.
The parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee cancelled the trip on Saturday after Iran demanded an apology over the cartoon, which caused Muslim outrage two years ago.
"The Iranian parliament had demanded an apology of the Danish parliamentary delegation, which they of course cannot accommodate," Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller said in a statement.
Police arrested three people on Tuesday over an alleged plot to kill the cartoonist who drew one of the images. Fifteen Danish newspapers reprinted his drawing in protest.
Moller said the committee could not apologise for the fact that Danish media carried out its obligation to inform as it could not apologise for freedom of expression.
"The pivotal point is that Danish authorities have acted to ward off the attempt to murder a Danish citizen. And in that connection the Danish newspapers have reprinted the drawings as information to the public," he said.
Share this article
Related Articles
News Editor's choice
-
Shilpa Shetty ties knot with Kundra
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty tied the knot with London-based businessman Raj Kundra
-
A weighty issue for Gulf News readers
Should we encourage pupils to slim down? Gulf News readers speak out
-
Work on world's longest sea crossing to begin in 2010
The proposed Qatar-Bahrain causeway project, tipped to be the world's longest sea crossing, is estimated at a cost of at $2.7 billion (Dh9.9 billion)
