SAUDI ARABIA / DENMARK: Denmark has warned its citizens not to go to Saudi Arabia as Gaza gunmen threatened that Danes or Norwegians who travel there will be attacked because of Muslim fury over newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Denmark has defended Jyllands-Posten's right to publish the satirical drawings that seemed to portray the prophet as a terrorist. The cartoons were also carried in a Norwegian paper.
Some Muslims, who deem images of prophets disrespectful and caricatures blasphemous, have reacted angrily, threatening Danes, calling for goods boycotts and demanding an apology. Saudi Arabia has recalled its envoy from Denmark, Libya has closed its embassy and thousands of Palestinians marched in protest yesterday.
The Danish foreign ministry warned against non-crucial travel to Saudi Arabia and urged Danes to be cautious in other Muslim countries such as Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Algeria, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.
The Danish Red Cross said it had pulled two employees out of Gaza and one out of Yemen.
Ten Palestinians armed with assault rifles and grenade launchers rallied outside EU headquarters in Gaza City, demanding an apology and saying Danes and Norwegians there would be at risk of attack.
Militants set fire to Norwegian and Danish flags and painted a footprint on the Danish flag, a severe insult for Arabs.
Denmark's prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has refused to apologise, defending the right of free speech and saying he could not influence the media, but he condemned attempts "to demonise people because of religious beliefs". - (Reuters)