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Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller is expected to receive the Muslim delegation.
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By
Nidal Abu Arif, IOL Correspondent
COPENHAGEN,
March 26, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – The Danish foreign ministry has
invited leading Muslim figures for a meeting in Copenhagen within weeks
to address the cartoons crisis for the first time since the September
publication of the drawings that lampooned Prophet Muhammad (peace and
blessings be upon him), a leading Danish daily revealed Sunday, March 26
.
The
invitation was sent to Secretary General of the Muslim World League
Abdullah bin Abdulmohsen Alturki before the Manama conference, Politiken
quoted as saying Thomas Christensen, head of the Middle East Section
at the Danish Foreign Ministry.
He
was referring to the two-day International Conference for Defending the
Prophet, which wrapped up in the Bahraini capital Thursday, March 23.
Brining
together up to 300 Muslim scholars worldwide, the gathering announced
the establishment of an international organization and a fund for
defending the Prophet.
A
similar invitation has been further extended to the Washington-based
International Committee for the Support of the Final Prophet (ICSFP).
ICSFP
Spokesman Ali Jumaa confirmed that his committee received an invitation
from the Danish Foreign Ministry to attend the Copenhagen meeting.
He
told Politiken that the committee delegation will group a host of
prominent Muslims figures from all over the world.
The
Committee was one of the Muslim bodies, which co-championed the Manama
conference.
Twelve
cartoons, including one showing the Prophet with a bomb-shaped turban,
were first published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in
September and reprinted 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
.
Dialogue
Christensen
said the Danish government has opted for a constructive dialogue with
the Muslim world.
"We
wanted to express our keenness on entering into a dialogue with the
Muslim world," he was quoted by the daily as saying.
"There
are many misconceptions about Denmark in Muslim countries, so it is
useful to put our heads together," added the Danish diplomat.
Asked
on the issues high on the agenda, Christensen said the economic boycott
will be possibly tackled.
The
drawings have triggered a massive Muslim economic boycott of Danish
products, costing the strong economy of the Scandinavian country
hundreds of millions of dollars in less than one month.
Muslim
scholars, however, hailed the positive stance taken by Danish dairy
company Arla Foods, which strongly condemned the publication of the
cartoons.
The
paper said the meeting is expected to raise the Danish State
Prosecutor's decision not to drop a case filed by Muslims against the Posten.
State
Prosecutor Henning Fode argued that the mass-circulation daily did not
violate the Danish freedom of expression laws by commissioning and
printing the cartoons.
Danish
Muslims are planning now to take the publication of cartoons to the
United Nations after Fode's snub.
It
is the first time that Denmark sends an official invitation to Muslim
figures for a dialogue since the spark of the cartoons crisis
.
At
the very outset of the standoff, Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen refused
to meet a delegation of ambassadors of Muslim countries in Denmark.
Rasmussen
has said he regretted the hurt caused to Muslims but refuses to
apologize on behalf of the paper.
The
editor of Jyllands-Posten has apologized for offending Muslims
but defended the paper's right to publish the cartoons.
The
Muslim world insists on a clear-cut apology for the
"publication" of the odious cartoons and is pressing for a UN
resolution criminalizing blasphemy.
