In
the documentary, which was aired by French public broadcaster France 2
on Thursday evening, Akkari was shown threatening Naser Khader, a
Danish member of parliament.
"If
he becomes minister for immigration or integration, shouldn't we send
two guys to blow him and his ministry up?," Akkari said.
He
blasted the cameraman for keeping his camera rolling while having a
tea break.
Syrian-born
Khader, a deputy of the Social Liberal Party (Det Radikale Venstre), is facing
wide criticism from Danish Muslim leaders over his handling of the cartoons crisis.
They
slammed a meeting between Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and
Khader in the wake of the crisis as unrepresentative of the mainstream
Muslims in Denmark.
Khader
told the Danish daily Information on the day he met Rasmussen
that the Prophet cartoons are not insulting to Muslims, adding that he
would not mind that one of the famed Danish comedians and satirists be
cast as the Prophet.
The
cartoons were first published by Danish daily Jyllands-Posten
in September and reprinted later by European newspapers on claims of
freedom of expression.
The
drawings, considered blasphemous under Islam, have triggered massive
and sometimes violent demonstrations across the Muslim world.
The
editor of Jyllands-Posten has apologized for offending Muslims
but defended the paper's right to publish the cartoons.
Good
Intentions
 |
|
Khader drew scathing criticism from Danish Muslim leaders for mishandling the cartoons crisis.
|
Akkari
said he did not expect that his joke would be taken seriously,
publicized and become a matter of concern to the public opinion,
stressing that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
He
said while Muslim preachers and scholars from around the world met in
Bahrain to discuss means of bridging the East-West divide, a
"short-sighted, selfish" cameraman turned the knife in the
wound.
"I
really regret that the Danish public opinion is preoccupied with such
fuss about nothing, given that the Danish media praised our role in
the Manama conference as positive and helped boost national
reconciliation in Denmark," he pointed out.
"We
have to watch our words even while joking from now on as some are
lurking in the bush," he said.
The
cartoons have prompted Muslims worldwide to champion campaigns to
raise awareness of the merits and characteristics of the Prophet.
Up
to 300 scholars wrapped up their two-day meeting in the Bahraini
capital Manama Thursday night, March 23, announcing the establishment
of an international organization and a fund for defending Prophet
Muhammad.
Investigation
Member
of Parliament Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen of the opposition Radical party
said she filed a complaint to police to investigate the statements
after Danish television aired the threat in a preview of the French
documentary.
Politiken
newspaper quoted Pierre Larsen, head of the Criminal Investigation
Department in Copenhagen, as saying: "It is logical to
investigate these statements that appeared in newspapers today
(Thursday). We will watch the documentary and ask everyone linked to
the case."
Rasmussen
told reporters that Akkari's statements were no laughing matter.
"To
toy with the idea of a terrorist attack against an elected official is
a very serious matter which I condemn," he said, adding that he
expected police to conduct an inquiry.
Danish
imams have said the government is trying to demonize them in the eyes
of the public because they "internationalized" the cartoons
crisis after their calls to condemn the drawings had fallen on deaf
ear at home.
They
criticized Immigration Minister Rikke Hvilshoj’s call to exclude
some of them from integration dialogue in the Scandinavian country as
a punishment.
The
anti-immigrant People's Party went even far by calling for revoke
citizenship of three imams including Akkari.
