Norwegian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Jan Bugge-Mahrt has expressed the apology of the Norwegian government and people to the Muslims throughout the world for publishing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) by a Norwegian newspaper. The remarks of the Norwegian ambassador came during a meeting with Dr Saleh bin Humeid, the Chairman of the Shoura (consultative) Council, here on Saturday. The ambassador said that his government had been following up the problem of the cartoons with a great concern because one of the Norwegian newspapers was involved in it by printing some drawings that had insulted Prophet Mohammed, (peace be upon him). 'I would like to make it clear that the Norwegian government and people do condemn and deplore insulting Prophet Mohammed, (peace be upon him)', he said noting that Norway which respects all religions and nations, includes more than 80,000 Muslims. The ambassador said his country had given big attention to the condemnation statements earlier issued by the Saudi cabinet and Shoura council in this respect. 'Norway has made it clear its annoyance with the these insulting drawings and the Norwegian embassy has issued a statement condemning such insults', he said. The ambassador pointed out that Norway enjoys the freedom of expression ,and added 'but this freedom does not necessarily mean insulting beliefs of others'. The ambassador said that representatives of the Muslim community in Norway had met representatives of churches in the country who condemned the mistake committed by the Norwegian newspaper in this respect. 'The newspaper's editor-in-chief has expressed apology to the Muslim for the mistake committed by his newspaper', he said. The ambassador highlighted the tolerance of Islam and said 'we, who live in Muslim countries, do feel the greatness of Islam and Muslims and their tolerance with non-Muslims'. --MORE 13 29 Local Time 10 29 GMT
