Copenhagen, Denmark - A regional prosecutor said he would not file charges against a newspaper that published contentious caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, and Danish Muslim groups said Monday they would appeal.
"We cannot understand the decision," said Ahmad Akkari, a spokesman for a coalition of 11 community groups, adding that they would take their complaints to Denmark's top prosecutor.
He said the 12 caricatures, published Sept. 30 in the Jyllands-Posten daily, were a "clear offense to Islam."
State prosecutor Peter Broendt Joergensen said Saturday the drawings were protected by Denmark's freedom of speech laws and did not violate bans on racism and blasphemy.
Egypt has been spearheading foreign criticism of Denmark over the cartoons. While Egypt "respects freedom of opinion and expression, we also realize the borders which must never be crossed," Egypt's official Middle East News Agency quoted Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit as saying Monday after he was informed of the prosecutor's decision by his Danish counterpart.
Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry.
One cartoon shows Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Another portrays him with a bushy gray beard and holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle. A third pictures a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick in front of a donkey and a sunset. A fourth depicts a schoolboy near a blackboard.
Twelve artists submitted cartoons after the newspaper asked 40 to submit images in what it called a test of whether people would censor themselves for fear of provoking Muslims.
The paper refused to apologize for publishing the drawings, citing freedom of speech — a right cherished in this northern European country of 5.4 million that also refused to prosecute an artist who depicted a crucified Jesus Christ with an erection.
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen rejected calls that he intervene after the caricatures sparked harsh criticism from some Muslim leaders at home and overseas, saying the government has no say over media.
But in a New Year's speech widely seen as an attempt to calm emotions over the issue, Rasmussen condemned "any expression, action or indication that attempts to demonize groups of people on the basis of their religion or ethnic background."
The dispute has created a backlash against Danish Muslim groups, who critics say blew the matter out of proportion by asking Muslim countries to pressure the Danish government to act against the paper.
In her weekly newsletter, Pia Kjaersgaard, the leader of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, accused some Danish Muslim leaders of conducting a "defamation campaign against the country they live in."
Abdul Wahid Petersen, a leading imam in Denmark, defended the decision to request help from abroad.
"When someone offends the prophet, it is not only just a local problem but affects Muslims worldwide," he said Monday on Danish public radio.