Posted on December 2, 2005

Cartoons of Mohammed Cause Death Threat

DR Nyheder (Denmark), Dec. 2

The events surrounding the publication of drawings of the prophet Mohammed in the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten a couple of months ago has taken an even more dramatic turn for the worse.

A large Islamic extremist party in Pakistan has offered a reward of 50,000 kroner to anyone who kills any of the artists.

The Danish ambassador in Islamabad, Bent Wigotski, reports that it is the extremist Jamaaat-e-Islami party and it youth organisation who have offered the bounty money. They have also demanded the ambassador leave Pakistan.

The foreign office has advised all Danish citizens entering Pakistan to be extra vigilant as it is not only the twelve artist who have angered the fundamentalists. They have warned against backpacking across Pakistan with a Danish flag upon your rucksack.

The Pakistani ambassador in Denmark has distanced himself from the death threats and said that the authorities in Pakistan will probably be investigating the case.