Rasmussen refused in October 2005 to meet with 11 ambassadors from Muslim nations to nip the crisis in the bud.

COPENHAGEN – Denmark was condemned Thursday, May 25, in an official report for its mishandling of the cartoon crisis sparked by the publication of 12 caricatures that lampooned Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in Danish mass-circulation Jyllands Posten in September.

"The government's management of the Muhammad (cartoon) affair was a bigger problem than the caricatures themselves and the prime minister ... should have entered into dialogue with the Muslim ambassadors," said the government-sanctioned study, a copy of which was obtained by Jyllands Posten, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen refused in October 2005 to meet with 11 ambassadors from Muslim nations who had asked to see him in a bid to nip a looming crisis in the bud.

Denmark has been the focus of Muslim anger following the publication of the offensive cartoons by the Posten.

The blasphemous cartoons, including one showing the Prophet with a bomb-shaped turban, were later reprinted by European newspapers on claims of freedom of expression.

The editor of Jyllands-Posten has apologized for offending Muslims but defended the paper's right to publish the cartoons.

Rasmussen has said he regretted the hurt caused to Muslims but refuses to apologize for the publications of the drawings.

Unforthcoming

The study said that the Danish government has not proved forthcoming and responded negatively to Muslim bids to break the standoff.

"Denmark, in practice, did not want dialogue," said the Danish university researchers who wrote the study.

"It did not acknowledge the points of view of the other party (Muslim nations) and ... saw being open to dialogue as compromising its own values."

Danish Muslim leaders had taken pains to settle the crisis, but they were given the could shoulder by the government.

They then took their case to the Muslim world, embarking on a multi-leg Arab tour that outraged the government which accused them of "internationalizing" the issue and inciting anti-Danish hatred.

The new study focused on the "Arab Initiative" -- a scheme created by Denmark's conservative government in 2003 to improve dialogue with Arab nations.

The project was put on ice after the cartoon episode soured relations between Denmark and the Muslim world but Copenhagen now says it would like to see the initiative reactivated.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) criticized on May 16 Denmark for allowing a climate of suspicion and hatred towards Muslims and blasted as provocative the cartoons.

The human rights watchdog stressed that the fact that 56% of surveyed Danes saw the caricatures publication as acceptable "is a testimony of the current climate in Denmark."

It cited discrimination against Muslims, together with other minority groups, in employment, education and housing.

It advised the government to engage in discussions with representatives of the Muslim minority and consistently involve them in measures directed at improving the situation of the Muslim minority.

Muslims make up around three percent of Denmark’s 5.3 population, making Islam the second largest religion after the Lutheran Protestant Church.