Newspapers across Europe have reprinted caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to show support for a Danish paper whose cartoons have sparked Muslim outrage.

The BBC reported (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4670370.stm) that seven publications in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain all carried some of the drawings. Their publication in Denmark led Arab nations to protest. Islamic tradition bans depictions of Muhammad.

The BBC also stated that the owner of one of the papers to reprint - France Soir - has now fired its managing editor over the matter. The cartoons have sparked diplomatic sanctions and death threats in some Arab nations, while media watchdogs have defended publication of the images in the name of press freedom.

Reporters without Borders commented, the BBC reported, that the reaction in the Arab world “betrays a lack of understanding” of press freedom as “an essential accomplishment of democracy.”

RADICAL CLERIC’S FOLLOWERS INCENSED

The actions of the Danish paper have also incensed the followers of exiled radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad.

A shocking news release on the group’s site (www.thesavedsect.com/articles/PressRelease/DemonstrationDanishEmbassy.htm), in addition to promoting a Friday demonstration outside the Danish embassy, says such insults carry the death penalty in Islam.

The news release encourages Muslims to “rise and defend the honor of the prophet Muhammad” and reads, “The Prophet said, ‘Whoever insults a Prophet, kill him.’”

The news release continues. It reads, “The Islamic verdict on individual or individuals who insult any Prophet needs to be passed by an Islamic court and implemented by the Islamic state, rather than individuals carrying out the verdict themselves.”

The news release continues, “Muslims take their ideology and belief very seriously and any insult to any Messengers and Prophets will never be tolerated, in fact the Messenger Muhammad … said that we must love Allah … and His Messenger more than anyone else, including our parents and even ourselves. In light of this, we will be holding a demonstration outside the Danish Embassy.”

But then the news release writer laments, “However, sadly we find that we live in an era where there is not one country in the world implementing the Sharee’ah. Rather the 55 Muslim countries in existence today all implement non-Islamic law and their insults to the Messenger Muhammad … are worse than what appears in the newspapers referred to above since they insult the Messenger Muhammad … every day by ignoring his commands.

“They ensure that Muslims are kept in subservience to the West and they do not lift a finger to defend the lives, honor and property of Muslims being violated in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, Afghanistan etc. Clearly were it not for the fact that they fear being overthrown by an angry Muslim population, not a word would have been mentioned about the current incident from the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Pakistan, Kuwait etc.”

WHO IS BAKRI?

Bakri is a Lebanese national of Syrian origin who lived in Britain from 1986 until he was stripped of his British residency as part of London’s bid to rein in radical Islamic leaders.

His statements have concerned terror watchers. A threatening statement from some of Bakri Muhammad’s followers to their leader (while distancing their future activities from him), made freelance spy Glen Jenvey (www.glen-jenvey.com), whose sting operation helped hook jailed Islamic radical cleric Abu Hamza, very concerned about what Bakri Muhammad’s followers have in mind.

Jenvey said, “With this guy’s track record, and his hatred for everyone who doesn’t agree with his philosophy, else is there to think?”

The statement (www.thesavedsect.com/articles/Misc/Messages/MessageOBM.htm) reads in part, “You will be pleased to know that we will continue with our work here in order to distinguish ourselves from the disbelievers and fulfil our duties and obligations wherever we are. However, our activities here should not be linked to you in any way as we follow Islam in accordance with the understanding of the Messenger Muhammad (saw) and his Companions, and not your understanding.”

The message also reads, “We were once upon a time on the road to apostasy and Hellfire, following the British way of life and ideology, and looking to make this world our permanent place of residence. Like all other British Muslims, we never used to know the true meaning of the Kalimah (www.geocities.com/fearallaah/kalimahs.htm), and hence we used to urge our parents to become apostates by voting for man-made law and to integrate with this corrupted and non-Islamic society.”

Jenvey called that “downright scary.”

Jenvey is no stranger to the hate- filled writings of Bakri Muhammad and his followers. Recently he helped bring a video on the group’s web site to international attention.

Using a copy of the video supplied Jenvey (www.glen-jenvey.com), Britain’s Channel 4 television channel showed the exiled former spiritual leader of Al-Muhajiroun (now living in Beirut, Lebanon) making the claims in a video shot about three months before the apparent suicide bombings by four suspected Islamic extremists which killed 52 British commuters.

While Jenvey’s name was never mentioned by Britain’s Channel 4, he said in an e-mail interview that he contacted both Britain’s MI5 and British police about the video the day before he informed the police.

One of Bakri’s statements from the video warned people to “take precautions” for the possibility of terrorist attacks in Britain. He added, “It’s going to happen.”

Following the broadcast of the video, Bakri Muhammad’s followers issues an angry denouncement of the way that their leader’s words were “interpreted.”

Writing on the Saved Sect web site (www.thesavedsect.com/articles/CurrentAffairs/RefutingMetPolice.htm) they complained, “Furthermore, the Sheikh in the lecture, aired on Channel Four News, stated the need for him and his followers to be aware that if something was to happen then they would be targeted by the government and police. This was an accurate forecast by the Sheikh due to the fact that he and his followers were, and most probably are, the only radical, open and public Muslim activists in the UK willing to speak the truth without fear of the consequences and without compromise. In fact this is exactly what happened after the July 7 attacks where Al-Muhajiroun and its successor organizations were to be banned with new legislation to be introduced to curb their activities and those of the Sheikh.”

DONATIONS FOR TERROR

The Saved Sect site also trolls for donations (www.thesavedsect.com/misc/Donations.htm).

The plea for funds says that donations can be made securely on line. It continues, “Think about the reward you could be earning for every person who receives a leaflet which you helped pay for and learns something new about Islam. Allah … says in the Qur’aan, ‘Who is he that will lend to Allah a goodly loan so that He may multiply it to him many times? And it is Allah that decreases or increases (your provisions), and unto Him you shall return.’” (EMQ al-Baqarah, 2:245)

The site is registered to The Saved Sect, Asad Ullah, 472 Coventry Road, Birmingham, West Midlands B10 0UG, in Great Britain. Tel: 44.02079112001.

Its numerical computer address is 202.64.47.26. Also housed at this same location are a number of other sites, including www.adultpornoweb.com.

This sharing of computer servers is especially ironic in light of this statement (www.thesavedsect.com/articles/Non-Muslims/RottenFruitsDemocracy.htm).

“The pornographic industry is one of the biggest industries in these democracies together with escort agencies, dating agencies and prostitution whether legalized or not, all in order to feed the unmoral and hedonistic needs of the people. There is no trust between any two partners with the man knowing of the likelihood that his children are most probably not his, ending up molesting, abusing or mistreating them. Their partners freely mix with people of the opposite gender usually resulting in them sleeping together, ending up in further breakdown of relationships and the transmission of diseases.”

The pornographic site is registered to Sol Byanka, who lists an address in Azerbaijan (in Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia, with a small European portion north of the Caucasus range).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4670370.stm

Seven publications in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain all carried some of the drawings. Their publication in Denmark led Arab nations to protest. Islamic tradition bans depictions of Muhammad.

The BBC reported that the owner of one of the papers to reprint - France Soir - has now fired its managing editor over the matter. The cartoons have sparked diplomatic sanctions and death threats in some Arab nations, while media watchdogs have defended publication of the images in the name of press freedom.

Reporters without Borders said, the BBC reported, that the reaction in the Arab world “betrays a lack of understanding” of press freedom as “an essential accomplishment of democracy.”

‘Spiting Muslims’

France Soir and Germany’s Die Welt were among the leading papers to reprint the cartoons, which first appeared in Denmark last September.

The caricatures include drawings of Muhammad wearing a headdress shaped like a bomb, while another shows him saying that paradise was running short of virgins for suicide bombers.

France Soir originally said it had published the images in full to show “religious dogma” had no place in a secular society.

However, the BBC reported that late Wed. its owner, Raymond Lakah, said he had removed managing editor Jacques Lefranc “as a powerful sign of respect for the intimate beliefs and convictions of every individual.”

The BBC reported that Lakah said, “We express our regrets to the Muslim community and all people who were shocked by the publication.”

The president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), Dalil Boubakeur, had described France Soir’s publication, the BBC reported, as an act of “real provocation towards the millions of Muslims living in France.”

Other papers stood by their publication. In Berlin, Die Welt argued there was a right to blaspheme in the West, and asked whether Islam was capable of coping with satire.

“The protests from Muslims would be taken more seriously if they were less hypocritical,” the BBC reported it wrote in an editorial.

La Stampa in Italy, El Periodico in Spain and Dutch paper Volkskrant also carried some of the drawings.

European Muslims spoke out against the pictures.

In Germany, the vice-chairman of the central council of Muslims said Muslims would be deeply offended. “It was done not to defend freedom of the press, but to spite the Muslims,” the BBC reported Mohammad Aman Hobohm said.

Sanctions

Correspondents say, the BBC reported, that the European papers’ actions have widened a dispute which has grown very serious for Denmark.

The publication last Sept. in Jyllands-Posten has provoked diplomatic sanctions and threats from Islamic militants across the Muslim world.

Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller has postponed a trip to Africa because of the dispute.

Thousands of Palestinians protested against Denmark this week, and Arab ministers called on it to punish Jyllands-Posten. Syria and Saudi Arabia have recalled their ambassadors to Denmark, while Libya said it was closing its embassy in Copenhagen and Iraq summoned the Danish envoy to condemn the cartoons.

The Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla Foods says its sales in the Middle East have plummeted to zero as a result of the row, the BBC reported, which sparked a boycott of Danish products across the region.

The offices of Jyllands-Posten had to be evacuated on Tues. because of a bomb threat.

The paper had apologized a day earlier for causing offence to Muslims, although it maintained it was legal under Danish law to print them.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the paper’s apology, but defended the freedom of the press.

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