CAIRO, February 9, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – The European Union will consider a media code of conduct in an effort to avoid a repeat of violent protests over the publication of insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by many European newspapers.

"The press will give the Muslim world the message: We are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression," EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini told Daily Telegraph on Thursday, February 9.

"We can and we are ready to self-regulate that right."

Frattini said the charter would be drawn up by the European Commission and the European media outlets to help encourage the media to show "prudence" when covering religions.

Twelve cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, first published last September by Denmark's mass-circulation Jyllands-Posten and then reprinted by several European dailies, have caused an uproar in the Muslim world.

The drawings included portrayals of the Prophet wearing a time-bomb shaped turban and showed him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by shrouded women.

Newspapers in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Poland, the United States, Japan, Norway, Malaysia, Australia, Jordan, Yemen, Ukraine and Fiji have so far reprinted some of the cartoons.

Newspapers which have published the cartoons claim they were exercising their right to freedom of speech.

Frattini said that the voluntary media code is meant to urge the media to respect all religious sanctities but would not offer privileged status to any specific faith.

He added that the code, however, would not have legal status.

The head of the EU executive body stressed that millions of Muslim in Europe felt humiliated by the Prophet cartoons.

A cohort of Muslim dignitaries and organizations are calling for the enactment of an international law banning the publication of any insults to religious symbols and values.