Stockholm/Lahore - Leading Scandinavian dailies reprinted a caricature of Islam's Prophet Mohammed depicted as a dog on Saturday as renewed protests began in the Muslim world. In Pakistan several demonstrations were reported in response to the caricature printed August 19 in the Swedish regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in a broadcast that he would stand by the principle of freedom of expression. The cartoonist, Lars Vilks, himself said in a television broadcast that he had received several death threats.
On Friday, several hundred people held a peaceful demonstration in Swedish city of Orebro to protest the caricature and deliver a petition to the regional newspaper.
Earlier in the week, officials in Iran and Pakistan criticized the publication in meetings with Swedish diplomats.
The September 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper triggered angry protests in many Muslim countries in January and February 2006.
