Residents protest against newspaper

Dubai/Ras Al Khaimah: A group of UAE residents staged a protest march at Al Mamzar Park late yesterday evening condemning the ridiculing of Islam by a Danish newspaper. Teenagers held aloft banners urging Muslims to boycott Danish products.

The protest against the blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by the paper Jyllands-Posten has snowballed into a boycott with at least two UAE retail giants pulling all Danish products from their shelves. The group, preceded by children holding aloft the UAE flag, attracted the attention of passing cars and traffic soon came to a crawl.

"It is a peaceful demonstration," said Heba, one of the marchers, who said she got an SMS to converge at the park.

All 10 branches of the Sharjah Cooperative Society have pulled Danish products from their shelves, said Abdul Hashim, manager of the Al Khan branch. "We have the support of the customers," he said.

The seven Union Cooperative stores in Dubai have also followed suit since Saturday, said Ebrahim Al Baha, operations manager.

The boycott has spread throughout the Gulf States with Emke Group, one of the largest retail chains in the region. It has withdrawn all Danish-made products from the shelves yesterday.

In Ras Al Khaimah, the Al Nakheel supermarket has replaced all Danish products from other countries, said its owner.

A senior executive of Arla Foods company apologised yesterday, saying the company cannot support anything that offends people's religion or ethnic background. "We would like to express our sympathy with Muslims who feel insulted or wronged," said Peder Tuborgh, managing director of the company.