DENMARK warned its citizens in the Middle East to be cautious amid anger in Muslim countries over newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
Masked Palestinian gunmen briefly seized a European Union office in Gaza City to protest and the Denmark-based dairy group Arla Foods said two of its employees in Saudi Arabia were beaten by angry customers.
Arla said a boycott of its products in
the Middle East was nearly total.
The Danish Red Cross said it was evacuating two employees from Gaza and one from Yemen after receiving death threats.
In a live television interview, prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Denmark's government "cannot make apologies on behalf of a Danish newspaper. That is not how our democracy works. Independent media cannot be edited by the government."
Asked for his private opinion, he replied: "I personally have such a respect for people's religious belief that I personally never would have depicted Muhammad, Jesus or any other religious character in a way that could offend other people."
Earlier yesterday, Arla's executive director had urged the Danish government to take action.
"I urgently beg the government to enter a positive dialogue with the many millions of Muslims who feel they have been offended by Denmark," Peder Tuborgh said in a statement.
"Freedom of expression is an internal Danish issue, but this has a different dimension. This is about Denmark having offended millions of Muslims."
The Norwegian People's Aid group also said it was withdrawing its two Norwegian representatives in Gaza after the threats.
On its website, the foreign ministry called for Danes to be cautious in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Iran, Syria and Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The 12 drawings - published in September by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and republished in a Norwegian paper this month - included an image of the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb. Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet.
