On Tuesday, police in Denmark arrrested three people who allegedly were plotting to kill Kurt Westergaard, one of the cartoonists whose caricature of the Prophet Mohammed was published by a Danish paper in 2005, setting off world-wide reaction. (AFP). Those arrested were a Dane of Moroccan origin and two Tunisian nationals. The Tunisians were to be expelled from the country and the Dane was to be released after questioning. In response to the arrests, over a dozen Danish papers on Wednesday reprinted Westergaard's offensive cartoon-- which depicts the Prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse. (AP). The papers said their move was intended to show their support for freedom of speech. A spokesman for Denmark's Islamic Faith Community said that even though this week's reprinting of the cartoon "was like a knife in our hearts," the group would not take steps to exploit the situation.
UPDATE: Several nights of vandalism by youths in Copenhagen has been attributed in part to the reprinting of the controversial cartoon by Danish papers, as well as to other causes such as police harassment. (International Herald Tribune, Feb. 17). Meanwhile, a group of Danish parlimentarians have cancelled their planned trip to Iran this week after Iran insisted that they first apoligize for Danish newspapers' activities. (Australian Broadcasting Corp., Feb. 17.) And on Friday, protests in the Gaza Strip and Pakistan focused on reprinting of the cartoon by Danish papers. (AP, Feb. 16.)
