Supermarkets in Gulf Arab states have stopped selling Danish products to protest against the new publication in Denmark of a controversial newspaper cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. The Times of Oman reported on Sunday that Al Jadeeda Stores had stopped selling products from Denmark in all six of its branches in the conservative Muslim sultanate.
The boycott will be maintained "as long as the insulting caricatures continue to be published", Mukhtar al-Lawati, the public relations chief of Al Jadeeda Stores, told the English-language daily. Similar action was underway in the United Arab Emirates. On Saturday the daily Khaleej Times reported that the Union Cooperative Society, which operates a chain of seven hypermarkets across the oil-rich federation, had started a boycott of Danish products.
"We have been directed to remove the Danish goods, mostly consisting of dairy products from the shelves," in protest over the cartoons deemed offensive by Muslims, a store official told the newspaper. The contentious cartoon featuring the prophet''s head with a turban that looks like a bomb with a lit fuse was first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten in 2005, sparked violent demonstrations in Muslim countries. In February, at least 17 Danish dailies reprinted the drawing, triggering fresh Muslim anger and protests in several countries.
The new publication of the cartoon has increased the threat of attacks in Denmark and against Danes abraod, the Danish Intelligence and Security Service said in a report on Friday. The republication was meant as a show of solidarity after police said it had foiled a murder plot against the cartoonist.