Saudi Arabia summons ambassador in Denmark for insulting Prophet Muhammad
Saudi Arabia-Denmark, Politics, 1/27/2006

Saudi Arabia has summoned its ambassador to Denmark, and Riyadh justified this measure to that Copenhagen did not take enough measures against the paper which published drawings insulting for prophet Muhammad.

One official at the Saudi foreign ministry said that what he described as the ill responsibility of the Danish government to the insulting for the prophet led to the complexity of the matter, and thereby ambassador Muhammad al-Hujeilan was summoned for consultation.

Saudi Arabia expressed its regret over the position of the Danish government regarding "harming Islam and Muslims." This came after the Saudi Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah al-Sheikh urged Denmark to punish "Jyllands-Posten" which published 12 drawings damaging for the prophet in September 2005.

Islamic tradition forbids presenting any images of the prophet Muhammad.

The statement by the Saudi Mufti called on the Danish government to force the paper to "apologize" for this act and "impose sanctions on every one who took part in it."

At the meantime, Saudi Arabia has been witnessing a campaign calling for the boycott of Danish products by several means like mobile SMS.

However, the Danish- Swedish group exports to Saudi Arabia annually goods at a value of 2 billion Danish Koron (268 million Euros ) mostly Ghee and cheese products.

The Arab foreign ministers criticized in their meeting in Cairo in December 2005 that Copenhagen did not take measures against the paper. Prior to the Arab and Islamic reaction, the Danish prime minister defended at the beginning of this month the freedom of expression but without provoking hatred against Muslims.

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