Muhammad Cartoon Reaction Continues; Danish Editor Responds

Reaction around the world to publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad continues with unbelievable intensity. Here is Saturday's summary of developments from an article by the Associated Press:

Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches on Saturday, killing at least 15 people in the deadliest confrontation yet in the whirlwind of Muslim anger over the drawings.

It was the first major protest to erupt over the issue in Africa's most populous nation. An Associated Press reporter saw mobs of Muslim protesters swarm through the city center with machetes, sticks and iron rods. One group threw a tire around a man, poured gas on him and set him ablaze.

In Libya, the parliament suspended the interior minister after at least 11 people died when his security forces attacked rioters who torched the Italian consulate in Benghazi.

Right-wing Italian Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli resigned under pressure, accused of fueling the fury in Benghazi by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with one of the offending cartoons, first published nearly five months ago in a Danish newspaper.

Danish church officials met with a top Muslim cleric in Cairo, meanwhile, but made no significant headway in defusing the conflict.

And in what has become a daily event, tens of thousands of Muslims protested - this time in Britain, Pakistan and Austria - to denounce the perceived insult.

Meanwhile, Sunday's Washington Post carries an op-ed, Why I Published Those Cartoons, by Flemming Rose, culture editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten (the paper in which the cartoons were first published). He says:

I commissioned the cartoons in response to several incidents of self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam. And I still believe that this is a topic that we Europeans must confront, challenging moderate Muslims to speak out. The idea wasn't to provoke gratuitously -- and we certainly didn't intend to trigger violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world. Our goal was simply to push back self-imposed limits on expression that seemed to be closing in tighter.

UPDATE: On Sunday, two Saudi papers carried a full-page ad dated Feb. 5 in which Carsten Juste, the editor of Jyllands-Posten, apologized for the cartoons published by his paper. (Reuters.)