[Memnoch]

The US and Britain have condemned the republication of the cartoons.

U.S. CONDEMNS CARTOONS . In the name of press freedom, more European newspapers ran controversial cartoons. Belgian newspaper De Standaard reproduced the pictures along with letters from readers in favor of publication. . The United States condemned the cartoons on Friday, siding with Muslims who are outraged that newspapers put press freedom over respect for religion. . "We ... respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable," said State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper. . Britain's newspapers have so far refused to publish the cartoons, earning them praise from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. . "I believe the republication of these cartoons has been unnecessary, it has been insensitive, it has been disrespectful and it has been wrong," he said. . Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen met Muslim envoys to seek calm but said he could not apologize on behalf of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper which first published the images. . "Neither the Danish government nor the Danish nation as such can be held responsible for drawings published in a Danish newspaper," he said after the meeting. . Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said the dispute pitted "the whole Islamic world vis-a-vis Denmark and vis-a-vis the trend of Islamophobia." . Up to 300 Islamic activists in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, rampaged in the lobby of a building housing the Danish embassy in Jakarta. . Shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest), they smashed lamps with bamboo sticks, threw chairs, lobbed rotten eggs and tomatoes and tore up a Danish flag. No one was hurt. . Source: Yahoo (click here) .