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AN Islamic court in India has issued a fatwa, or religious decree, condemning to death the 12 artists who drew the controversial images of the prophet Mohammed. The decree was issued on behalf of the Idar-e-Sharia Darul Kaza Islamic court in northern Uttar Pradesh state by its religious head in the state capital, Lucknow. "Death is the only penalty for the cartoonists who had drawn sacrilegious cartoons of the prophet," Maulana Mufti Abul Irfan, the religious head of the court, said overnight. The court's ruling is binding on Muslims, but can be challenged under Indian law. Mr Irfan said it...

A SAUDI-owned pan-Arab newspaper printed a full page apology from Jyllands-Posten, the Danish daily that first published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed unleashing a wave of fury from Muslims worldwide. "These drawings apparently hurt millions of Muslims around the world, so we now offer our apology and deep regret for what happened because it is far from the paper's intention," said the statement titled "Apology" in big bold letters addressed to Muslim citizens and printed in Asharq al-Awasat. It was signed by the paper's editor-in-chief Carsten Juste and was also posted in Arabic on Jyllands-Posten's website under a link titled "A...

Denmark's PM has described the row over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as a "global crisis", as he called for Muslims to refrain from violence. Anders Fogh Rasmussen said extremists seeking "a clash of cultures" were exploiting the dispute over the images, which first appeared in Denmark. Protests continued worldwide on Tuesday, spreading to West Africa. In Afghanistan at least three demonstrators died as they tried to storm a Norwegian-led base. The satirical cartoons - which have been reproduced in a number of European newspapers - have been denounced throughout the Islamic world. They include an image portraying Muhammad with...