Free Republic

NEW YORK (AP) -- Several Muslim leaders have declined invitations to the mayor's annual year-end interfaith breakfast, saying they're upset at police department efforts to infiltrate mosques and spy on Muslim neighborhoods. The imams and activists said in a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg that they're disturbed at his response to a series of stories by The Associated Press detailing New York Police Department intelligence-gathering programs that monitored Muslim groups, businesses and houses of worship. Bloomberg has defended the NYPD, saying last week it doesn't take religion into account in its policing. Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser acknowledged Wednesday that about...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark's top prosecutor said Wednesday he will not press charges against the newspaper that first published the Prophet Muhammad cartoons that triggered angry protests from Muslims worldwide. The Foreign Ministry warned the decision could spark "negative reactions" against Danes and warned citizens to be cautious when traveling in Muslim countries. [snip] A boycott on Danish goods started in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 26 and spread to dozens of Muslim countries. The cartoons were seen as an insult to Muhammad, depicting him as violent and primitive. Sunni Muslim tradition bans any image of the prophet, since depicting him...