Muhammad cartoon in 143 papers

2006-03-01 18:11

Copenhagen - Cartoons of Prophet Muhammad that were first published in a Danish newspaper last year and which have sparked an outcry in the Muslim world have been reprinted in 143 newspapers in 56 countries, a study showed on Wednesday.

One or several of the 12 controversial cartoons have appeared either in print editions or online, according to the study done by eJour, the online magazine of the Danish School of Journalism.

Most of the reproductions have appeared in Western countries, including 70 newspapers in Europe, 14 in the United States, three in Canada and New Zealand, two in Australia, and one in Japan.

But the drawings have also been printed in eight Muslim countries: Algeria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

In the United States, no national newspaper has published the cartoons, but 14 regional and local publications have, according to the study conducted in February.

The drawings are considered by many fervent Muslims to be blasphemous and have sparked violent protests and scores of deaths in Muslim countries since they were first published.

- AFP