Middle East News
Iran protests against Swedish caricature of Prophet Mohammed
Aug 28, 2007, 8:24 GMT
Stockholm - Iran has protested against a publication of a caricature depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a dog, a Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Sweden's charge d'affaires Gunilla von Bahr was summoned Monday to the Iranian foreign ministry where the authorities expressed their view that it was 'an insult to the Prophet Mohammed,' spokeswoman Sofia Karlberg said, adding that the Swedish government had no further comment.
The caricature, published August 19 in the regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, shows the prophet's head on a dog's body.
The cartoon by artist Lars Vilks has earlier triggered protests by Muslim groups and others in Sweden and was withdrawn from an art exhibition.
The editor of Nerikes Allehanda Ulf Johansson defended his decision to publish the cartoon along with an article on freedom of speech and self-censorship.
The September 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper triggered angry protests in many Muslim countries in January and February 2006.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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