Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has called on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to seriously deal with those violating sanctities of Muslims. Mottaki held a telephone conversation with the OIC Secretary- General, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to condemn the 'insulting' cartoons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) published in a Danish newspaper and carried by some other European newspapers. The Iranian minister proposed the OIC foreign ministers to hold an emergency meeting to discuss factors behind such "an organized assault" on the Islamic world. Ihsanoglu, on his part, said despite apology of the officials of some of the countries, publication of the "sacrilegious" cartoons in their media is still continuing and such "worthless" measures can by no means be interpreted as freedom of expression. He stressed the Islamic nations will not tolerate such insulting acts and welcomed Mottaki's proposal on holding an emergency session. The OIC secretary-general said he would inform member states of the organization on the proposal at the earliest time. The publication of the insulting cartoons was immediately met by outrage and angry protests among world's Muslims. Caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) published in a Danish tabloid in September provoked boycotts and angry protests across the Muslim world on Tuesday with interior ministers from 17 Arab countries calling on the Danish government to punish the authors. The OIC General Secretariat also condemned the reprehensible publications in the Danish newspaper "Jylland Posten" which found their way in the Norwegian daily Magazine.
