A Danish newspaper Friday apologized for offending Muslims by reprinting a blasphemous sketch, rekindling heated debate about the limits of freedom of speech. Danish daily Politiken said its apology was part of a settlement with a Saudi lawyer representing eight Muslim groups in the Middle East and Australia. It drew strong criticism among Danish media, which previously had stood united in rejecting calls to apologize for 12 blasphemous sketches that sparked fierce protests in the Muslim world four years ago. Politiken said it did not mean to offend Muslims in Denmark or elsewhere when it reprinted one of the most controversial sketches. In a statement, Politiken said it “recognizes and deplores” that reprinting the sketches “has offended Muslims.” “We apologize to anyone who was offended by our decision to reprint the cartoon drawing,” it said. Politiken editor in chief Toeger Seidenfaden told the AP that the paper was apologizing for the offense caused by the sketch - not the decision to reprint it. “We have the right to print Kurt Westergaard's drawings, we have the right to print the original 12 drawings, we have the right to print all the caricatures in the world,” he said. “We apologize for the offense which the reprint has caused. That is what we apologize for.” Seidenfaden said Politiken considered the statement a “unique chance” to foster a dialogue on the issue and reduce tensions between Denmark and the Muslim world. “Politiken's pathetic prostrating before a Saudi lawyer takes the first prize in stupidity,” said Joern Mikkelsen, editor in chief of Jyllands-Posten, which first printed the 12 sketches. At Copenhagen newspaper Berlingske Tidende, chief editor Lisbeth Knudsen called the apology “embarrassing and shameful.” And Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, head of the Danish Union of Journalists, said Politiken was “kneeling before opponents of the freedom of press.” The apology was welcomed by Muslim leaders in Denmark. The Saudi lawyer representing the Muslim groups, Faisal Yamani, has been demanding apologies from 11 Danish newspapers that reprinted the cartoon. Politiken is the only one so far to have reached a settlement.
