No Charges Against Paper That Ran Muhammad Cartoons

The publication of the cartoons sparked violent protests around the world, like this one in Pakistan, February 7 (epa)

March 15, 2006 -- Danish prosecutors will not open criminal proceedings against a Danish newspaper that published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad last year.

Denmark's director of public prosecutions, Henning Fode, said today the publication of 12 cartoons by the "Jyllands-Posten" newspaper in September 2005 did not violate Danish criminal law.

He was acting on an appeal by Muslim groups of a regional prosecutor's decision to rule out criminal proceedings.

The cartoons, which were reprinted in a number of other European newspapers, sparked a wave of protests around the Muslim world.

Muslim groups said the ruling "could only damage Denmark" internationally.

(AP, dpa)