RIYADH, 30 March 2006 — Five leading Islamic organizations, which held an international conference in defense of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) last week in Manama, urged Muslims yesterday to exclude Arla Foods from the boycott of Danish products as a result of blasphemous cartoons published in a newspaper in Denmark last September.
“We decided to exclude the products of Arla Foods since the company has not only condemned the sacrilegious caricatures but it had also supported our constructive action against the publication of these questionable cartoons,” said Soliman Hamad Al-Buthi, spokesman from the Riyadh-based International Committee for the Support of the Final Prophet (ICSFP). “This action demonstrates that we are prepared to extend a hand of friendship with anyone who respects our religion.”
Al-Buthi said that this would be a good opportunity to open fresh dialogue with the West to project the true image of the Islamic faith. He, however, emphasized that it is necessary to adhere to the boycott.
The five organizations which organized the Manama conference included Al-Ittehad Ulema Al-Muslimeen, Al-Islah Society, Islam Today, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and the ICFSP.
He said attendees of the conference in Manama condemned the violent reactions of some Muslims who burned foreign consulates and public properties. The two-day meeting set up a general secretariat to implement the decisions and resolutions moved at the end of its sessions.
After a two-month boycott, shops and supermarkets in the Middle East have started to put butter and cheese from Arla back on their shelves, said Finn Hansen, an executive at Arla Foods. “So far, only a relatively few customers have chosen to lift the boycott, but we’ve had positive signals from others and we’re hopeful that one of the large chains will decide to list our products again,” he said.
The blasphemous cartoons were published by Jyllands-Posten, Denmark’s largest newspaper, int September last year and were reprinted in many European newspaper early this year sparking angry protests across the Muslim world.
