Aftenposten continues to ride a sea of criticism by Pakistan, after having reproduced the Danish author Kurt Westergaard’s controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons last week.

Profane

A Pakistani group on the UN’s terror list with links to the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has called upon to Muslims to stage peaceful, but strong protests against Aftenposten, calling the paper blasphemous.

“Honourable Muslims...Awake! And raise your voices to protect your prophet’s magnificent holy principles. Prove that we are willing to sacrifice everything, including our lives, to protect our prophet’s holiness, and that we accept the challenge,” Jamaat-ud-Dawa writes in an appeal issued at their press conference yesterday.

Condemnation

The statement comes just hours after the Pakistani Parliament’s National Assembly in Islamabad passed a unanimous resolution condemning the paper for printing Westergaard’s cartoons, who was involved in a dramatic incident in his home recently, when a man armed with an axe tried to murder him.

Their resolution takes the same line as an unconfirmed press statement released previously by the country’s Foreign Office, calling for the Norwegian government to intervene.

The Assembly also accuses the paper for attempting/conspiring to provoke strong feelings amongst Muslims.

“This Assembly strongly demands that the UN both clarifies the law...for the person who harasses anyone from Adam, to Moses, to Mohammed, and takes measures to punish this person,” quotes Aftenposten.

Harassment

However, Tore Bjørgo – professor at the Norwegian Police University College and researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) in Oslo – believes LeT’s appeal is nothing to worry about.

“I wouldn’t have read too much into it, insofar as they say that (Muslims) should respond peacefully. But it does sound unpleasant, and could be meant more as harassment,” he says, adding that the paper can expect some phone calls and emails.

Meanwhile the paper’s editor-in-chief, Hilde Haugsjerd, isn’t surprised that Pakistani politicians and isolated groups have reacted to the cartoons, saying they haven’t been contacted directly yet. She also finds it difficult to understand what the protests entail.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa calls itself “a group for the protection of the Prophet’s holiness”, and underline in their press statement that they will “soon be putting forward an overall strategy for the nation”.