The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has slammed the Danish government for failing categorically to condemn the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish daily.
OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the response by the Danish authorities 'was highly unsatisfactory'.
Twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, published in Jyllands-Posten daily last September and reprinted in a Norwegian magazine earlier this month, sparked uproar in the Muslim world since images of the prophet are considered blasphemous.
The chief of the pan-Islamic body also casted doubt over the viability of the dialogue between religions in the light of what he described as the silence of the Vatican over the issue.
'We have received nothing in terms of the Vatican's position, which was keen on the dialogue between religions,' he told reporters in a later press conference.
He also defended the right of Muslims to boycott Danish products.
'If the Danes have the right to express (their views freely), Muslims have the right to buy Danish goods or not,' he said.
The publication of the cartoons provoked strong reactions in Muslim countries where consumers turned their back to Danish products amid calls demanding the Danish government to apologise.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in October refused to agree to a meeting requested by 11 ambassadors of Muslim nations to discuss the controversy.
Rasmussen upheld freedom of expression as a fundamental human right but condemned any action ‘which tries to demonise certain groups due to their religious or ethnic background’.
One of Europe's largest dairy producers, Danish company Arla, has placed advertisements in Middle Eastern newspapers to try to stop the boycott.
Arla acted after reporting a drop in sales in Saudi Arabia because of anger about the series of caricatures that appeared in Jyllands-Posten.
The paper has apologised but said it was testing the boundaries of expression about Islam.
