Danish Muslims say won't be provoked by TV cartoons
By Kim McLaughlinCOPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Muslim leaders in Denmark on Saturday condemned video showing members of the anti-immigrant Danish Peoples' Party (DPP) drawing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad, but said they would not be goaded into taking action.
Danish state TV on Friday aired amateur video footage showing a number of members of the youth wing of the DPP at a summer camp in August, drinking, singing and engaging in a competition to draw humiliating images of the Prophet.
In September last year Danish daily Jyllands-Posten published cartoons, including one showing the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb in his turban. Muslim clerics denounced them as blasphemous, sparking protests early this year in which more than 50 people died in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
"Against the background of the problems earlier, we have to be careful," said Ahmed Abu-Laban, a Copenhagen imam who helped organise a trip to Egypt and Lebanon last year to rally support among Muslim leaders for protests against those drawings.
"This time it's a different situation. Of course it's deplorable, but we all know the attitude the DPP have toward Muslims and Islam and these pictures were never intended for publication," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Most Muslims regard depiction of the Prophet as offensive.
Abu-Laban said he regretted Danish TV's decision to air the footage saying it raised ethical questions.
"We've been working very hard to resolve the problems since the conflict earlier this year."
The youth wings of other parties, including the ruling Liberal party, criticised the DPP and said they would protest by not attending any political events where members of the Danish Peoples' Party were present.
Yildiz Akdogan, spokeswoman for Democratic Muslims, a pro-integration group formed in the aftermath of the protests against the cartoons in February, said she was glad other parties had condemned the actions.
"I think the events are too stupid and too absurd to provoke demonstrations or other actions from Muslims," she said.
"Of course it's not a good thing and definitely does not make building bridges any easier, but I hope it won't have any lasting effect."
Kenneth Kristensen, a senior member of the DPP's youth movement, criticised the events, but stopped short of apologising. The party was not available to comment on Saturday.
The DPP rose to prominence in a 2001 election on a platform that combines emphasis on increased spending on schools and care for the elderly with a strong anti-immigrant stance. It has been accused of racism, but has been a political ally of the centre-right coalition led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen since 2001.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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