Young Danes hold a banner saying 'sorry' to Muslims earlier this month. European citizens can apologize, but European governments cannot, according to Jose Manuel Barroso (epa)
Police said the protest in Peshawar was the largest to date, drawing an estimated 70,000 people.
Some of the demonstrators went on a rampage, ransacking the regional headquarters of Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor as well as the offices of Mobilink, the main Pakistani operator. Mobs also torched a bus terminal operated by the South Korean company, Daewoo. Police responded with tear gas and batons.
Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were reported killed in the melee.
Barroso: Governments Can’t Apologize
In Manila, capital of the Philippines, hundreds of demonstrators burned Danish flags outside the Danish Embassy. Legislator Mujib Hataman, leader of the Muslim community in the southern region of Mindanao, said the protesters were waiting for a formal apology from the Danish government for insulting the Prophet.
"We want them to condemn the action of 'Jyllands Posten.' We want them to ask for an apology on behalf of their people. And of course, to 'Jyllands Posten' for the caricature that they've done."
Angry protests have rocked the Philippines (epa)
But that is precisely what Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, says European governments will not and cannot do.
In his clearest statement on the issue to date, Barroso told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that EU governments do not speak for private individuals or independent media in their countries.
Barroso said it was time for people in the Muslim world to understand this fundamental principle.
"Governments or other public authorities do not prescribe or authorize the opinions expressed by individuals. Conversely, the opinions expressed by individuals engage these individuals and only them. They do not engage a country, a people, a religion. And we should not allow others to pretend that they do."
Denmark Is Europe
The EU chief said he had the deepest personal respect for Islam and its contribution to European history and culture. But he defended freedom of speech, calling it "non-negotiable."
Barroso also condemned the trade boycotts of Danish goods being advocated in several Muslim countries. As he did repeatedly during his speech, he invoked European solidarity regarding Denmark.
"Nor is a trade boycott an appropriate way of addressing the issue. It will hurt the economic interests of all parties and could damage the growing trading links between the European Union and the countries concerned. Trade, and the greater interconnections it brings, is a means to promote mutual understanding. And let us be clear. A boycott of Danish goods is, by definition, a boycott of European goods."
He did not outline any potential countermeasures.
But Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda is one politician who has suggested that the EU should offer financial compensation to Danish companies affected by the boycotts.
Iran Defends Holocaust Cartoon Contest
Barroso today condemned the ongoing violent protests that have damaged EU offices and Danish embassies in some Muslim countries.
"The Commission condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the violence perpetrated against our office in Gaza and against the missions of the member states, in particular those of Denmark. It is ironic that the aims of these missions is to bring real benefits to the lives of the people of their host countries."
Protesters burn the Israeli flag in front of the German Embassy in Tehran on 14 February (epa)
"I have spoken with the prime minister of Denmark and expressed the solidarity of the Commission. I want here today to send my solidarity to the people of Denmark as well -- a people who rightly enjoy the reputation of being among the most open and tolerant, not just in Europe but in the world."
Iran appears determined to test that tolerance. Speaking at a news conference in Tehran, the editor in chief of the mass circulation "Hamshahri" newspaper, which is run by the Tehran municipality, defended the paper's contest for cartoons about the Holocaust.
Mohammad Reza Zaeri said on 14 February that the West's much-vaunted free speech policies should be tested. He challenged the world to take a strong position against what he called the "killing and oppression of millions of people by the United States and Israel."
The newspaper's cartoon contest has been widely condemned by Jewish groups both inside and outside Iran as well as by many governments. "Hamshahri," unlike its Danish counterpart, is not considered independent of the authorities, as it is run by the Tehran municipality.
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly questioned the existence of the Holocaust.