Danish paper U-turns on Holocaust cartoons

Jyllands-Posten, the Danish daily that published the controversial Muhammad drawings, has made a dramatic U-turn on comments an executive made about using Holocaust caricatures.

The paper said it would under no circumstances publish the Holocaust cartoons that an Iranian newspaper, Hamshari, is planning to commission.

This U-turn comes after Jyllands-Posten’s culture editor, Flemming Rose, yesterday told CNN that his paper was trying to get in touch with an Iranian paper with a view to running the Holocaust cartoons. Today, Jyllands-Posten said: “This information is based on an over-interpretation of a statement made by culture editor Flemming Rose.

“Jyllands-Posten in no circumstances will publish Holocaust cartoons from an Iranian newspaper,” the paper said, in a statement posted on its website.

Mr Rose was quoted yesterday by CNN as saying: “My newspaper is trying to establish a contact with the Iranian newspaper, and we would run the cartoons the same day as they publish them.”

Meanwhile, Jyllands-Posten has reiterated its apologies to Muslims for causing offence by publishing the original 12 cartoons, in a letter to the Algerian press. The letter was distributed via the Danish embassy in Algiers.

“We apologise for the great misunderstanding generated by the publication of the caricatures that showed the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and created aggressive feelings towards Denmark and calls for boycotts against Danish goods,” the paper said.

“These caricatures have clearly offended millions of Muslims around the world and it is for these reasons that we are apologising and offering our deepest regrets for what has happened, which was not our intention.”

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