Cartoons showed ‘insensitivity’

A BRITISH Muslim Euro-MP last night called for an end to Muslim protests against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Liberal MEP Sajjad Karim said the Danish editor of the newspaper which published the cartoons had shown “great insensitivity”.

But he warned that those threatening violence against Danes were in danger of over-reacting.

“Muslims should have no issue with the Danish people as a whole - one of the most open and tolerant societies in the world.

“I would urge all sides now to climb down and treat this as a hard lesson in building inter-cultural ties.”

The plea came as newspapers across Europe reprinted the cartoons in support of the Danish paper, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Postenol.

Some of the same images were defiantly produced by France Soir, Italy’s La Stampa, Die Welt in Germany and El Periodico in Spain.

The move risked extending to French, German and Spanish citizens and governments the Muslim outrage - ranging from death threats to demands for diplomatic sanctions.

The leader of the group of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament, Graham Watson, said: “Some Arab politicians and zealots are pouring oil on the fire and thus further adding to tension at a time when relations between the EU and the Middle East need to be strengthened. This is a time for cool heads not hot-heads.”

Danish MEP Karin Riis-Jorgensen said the apology issued by the Danish newspaper should be the end of the issue: “Freedom of expression is a basic principle of European society and considered a fundamental human right which should not be undermined.”