Global: Cartoon crisis - sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind

Last week, the growing turbulence in the Middle East came to a head as protests erupted over the publication of some cartoons picturing a caricature of the prophet Mohammed. The protests soon spread around the world. "It would be tempting to look for an explanation to these events in a single issue, in this case the publication of a drawing showing Mohammed wearing a turban shaped as a bomb or portraying him holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle. We should note, however, that the riots erupted five months after the actual publication in a Danish right wing newspaper which printed twelve caricatures of Mohammed back in September last year," notes this commentary posted on the website of the Centre for Civil Society at the university of KwaZulu-Natal.
Related Links
* Niger: Thousands protest caricature of Prophet Muhammad
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51616
* Somalia: Violent protests against Prophet Muhammad cartoons
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51603