BBC to broadcast Muhammad cartoons
The BBC today said it would broadcast the cartoons which have caused a storm of protest in the Islamic world and led to the sacking of a French newspaper editor.
The cartoons include an image of the prophet Muhammad with a turban shaped like a bomb, and another showing him saying that paradise was running out of virgins.
The BBC emphasised that the images would be broadcast “responsibly” and “in full context” and “to give audiences an understanding of the strong feelings evoked by the story”.
The row began when a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, originally printed the series of cartoons.
The Muslim Association of Britain has accused the newspaper of “flagrant disregard to feelings of Muslims throughout the world”.
The cartoons led Saudi Arabia and Syria to withdraw their ambassadors to Copenhagen, and sparked demonstrations in Palestine.
There have been angry demonstrations across the Middle East and calls for boycotts of Danish products.
Yesterday, about a dozen Palestinian gunmen briefly surrounded the offices of the European Union in Gaza, demanding an apology over the cartoons.
