Cartoonist's works 'hijacked'

2006-02-14 19:38

Sydney - One of Australia's best-known cartoonists, Michael Leunig, said on Tuesday an Iranian newspaper withdrew two of his illustrations from its website after someone "maliciously" entered them in a contest about the Holocaust.

Leunig said he learned late on Monday that two of his drawings from four years ago had been submitted to Hamshahri, one of Iran's top newspapers, as an entry to a competition launched in response to a series of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

"This is a fraud and hoax emanating, we believe, from Australia," Leunig told ABC radio on Tuesday.

Leunig said he had been "set up horribly, maliciously".

An Iranian website allegedly ran quotes from Leunig saying he had contributed the cartoons to "express solidarity with the Muslim world", Leunig said.

"These were not my words at all," he said.

The cartoons were pulled from the Iranian newspaper's website after he contacted their editors, Leunig said.

"A reply came back, they were sorry, they removed the cartoon instantly without a qualm and with an apology," he said.

Cartoons rejected in 2002

Leunig said he had recently received a number of anonymous e-mails "taunting" him to enter the competition, but did not know if the two incidents were related.

The first drawing shows a ragged-looking man with a Star of David on his back walking toward the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942 with the words "Work Brings Freedom" over the entrance.

The second drawing in the series shows the same man carrying a rifle walking toward another gate in Israel with the words "War Brings Peace" over the entrance.

The Age's then-editor Michael Gawenda said in 2002 he had rejected the cartoons because they went beyond the limits he set for discussion of the Middle East.

Leunig's cartoons are more usually known for their whimsy than their politics.

He has published several books of drawings and poetry. His best-known characters are called Mr Curly and Vasco Pyjama.

On the web:

http://www.leunig.com.au

- AP