Feb 13, Aljazeera

Danish newspapers have reprinted one of the 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad that caused global Muslim outrage two years ago, to protest against an alleged plot to murder one of the cartoonists.

Muslims in Denmark said that the reprinting of the image of Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, with a lit fuse, would only stoke anger.

A Danish citizen of Moroccan descent and two Tunisians were arrested on Tuesday as suspects in a plan to kill 73-year-old Kurt Westergaard, a cartoonist at Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that originally published the drawings in September 2005.

Offensive

Five major daily newspapers, 10 smaller papers and a Swedish daily reprinted Westergaard's cartoon, the one that had caused the greatest controversy before.

Most Muslims consider any depiction of the prophet as offensive.

Imam Mostafa Chendid, a leading Danish Muslim, said: "We believe this is very foolish and does not help building the bridges we need."

Chendid, an imam at the Islamic Faith Community (IFC), which lost a defamation lawsuit against Jyllands-Posten in 2006, condemned all violence, but said it would be difficult to absorb the anger young Danish Muslims might feel.

He said: "It will make our young people feel more isolated. The printing of the cartoon is an insult to our intellectual capacity.

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photo: Three men were arrested on Tuesday for planning to murder 73-year-old Kurt Westergaard [EPA]