brigadier Biggles
02-22-2006, 06:06 PM
22 February 2006
BNP to print Muslim cartoon
By Chris Johnson and Kate Holton
LONDON (Reuters) - The far-right British National Party (BNP) said on Wednesday it would distribute leaflets showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad, a move Muslim groups said would provoke protests and was "playing with fire".
A spokesman for the tiny fringe party, which has no seats in parliament but a handful on local councils, said its use of the image was not intended to cause offence, but illustrated how Islam and Western values did not mix.
The party says it is not racist, but its leader Nick Griffin and another activist are due in court on race-hate charges in October.
The cartoon is one of 12 which first appeared in a Danish newspaper and were later reprinted in other European countries, sparking violent protests across the Islamic world. Many Muslims believe it is blasphemous to depict the Prophet.
At least 50 people have been killed during demonstrations around the world, and a Pakistani Muslim cleric last week offered rewards amounting to more than $1 million (575,000 pounds) to anyone who killed any of the Danish cartoonists.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/tm_objectid=16735353%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=bnp%2dto%2dprint%2dmuslim%2dcartoon-name_page.html
BNP to print Muslim cartoon
By Chris Johnson and Kate Holton
LONDON (Reuters) - The far-right British National Party (BNP) said on Wednesday it would distribute leaflets showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad, a move Muslim groups said would provoke protests and was "playing with fire".
A spokesman for the tiny fringe party, which has no seats in parliament but a handful on local councils, said its use of the image was not intended to cause offence, but illustrated how Islam and Western values did not mix.
The party says it is not racist, but its leader Nick Griffin and another activist are due in court on race-hate charges in October.
The cartoon is one of 12 which first appeared in a Danish newspaper and were later reprinted in other European countries, sparking violent protests across the Islamic world. Many Muslims believe it is blasphemous to depict the Prophet.
At least 50 people have been killed during demonstrations around the world, and a Pakistani Muslim cleric last week offered rewards amounting to more than $1 million (575,000 pounds) to anyone who killed any of the Danish cartoonists.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/tm_objectid=16735353%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=bnp%2dto%2dprint%2dmuslim%2dcartoon-name_page.html