Danish products back on shelves

Dubai: Danish dairy products are back on the shelves at some medium-sized outlets in the UAE after Muslim scholars called for the lifting of the unofficial boycott.

Major outlets such as Spinneys will start selling Danish products "hopefully" within days, following an announcement from Saudi Arabia.

"We are having discussions with Arla [Foods]," said the outlet's chief executive officer.

But a spokesman for retail giants, Emke Group and various cooperative society representatives said they had not heard about the lifting of the ban.

"It all depends on the sentiments of Muslim customers," said an Emke spokesman. The group has 50 retail outlets in the GCC states.

A spokesman for Sharjah Cooperative Society said the sticking point was that the Danish government still refused to apologise over the publication of the cartoons that mocked the Prophet.

The paper, Jyllands-Posten, which first published the offending cartons in September, has apologised but says it stands by its decision to print them, citing the right of freedom of speech.

Arla Foods recently went on a damage-control campaign and ran a series of advertisements in Arabic-language newspapers and TV channels in the UAE and the GCC states apologising for the cartoons.

A senior executive of Arla said it was impossible to calculate the effects of the boycott that started on January 28.

"The turnover in the region was $1.5 million (Dh5.4m) per day [before the ban]," said general manager Jacob Mikkelsen.

He said the announcement of the end of the ban would be made in Saudi Arabia today.

Muslim scholars from around the globe met in Bahrain recently for the International Conference on Supporting the Final Prophet (website: www.icsfp.com) and recommended the ban be lifted.

They praised Arla's condemnation of the "shameful cartoons" and said the conference's secretary recommended exempting Arla products (Lurpak, Puck, Dana and Three Cows) from its boycott.

The recommendation was signed by the secretary-general and Muslim scholar Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi.

'It was the only way to show our anger'

Muslim expatriates had differing views on the 60-day boycott.

Ali from Dubai felt it was the only way to air their (the Muslims') anger.

"Only when pressure was put did the Danish government respond," he said.

He felt the cartoons were a deliberate attempt to provoke Muslims. "Why then do you think they were repeated around Europe," he said, referring to the publication of the cartoons in other papers.

"How can boycotting one industry make a difference?" asked Moiz, a young Muslim from Sharjah. "I don't eat cheese, so it did not make a huge impact on my life," he said.

Other Muslim expatriates in Dubai hoped there would be better understanding of Islam and their culture in the West in the future.

Danish Consul Thomas Bay summed it up by saying that he hoped something good would come out of this situation, and there would be more understanding between East and West.

"I am absolutely thrilled that products are coming back on the shelves," he said.