In a statement on Thursday, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said Danish authorities should take moral responsibility for the republication of the cartoons, this time in a book called the “The Tyranny of Silence”.

Flemming Rose, cultural editor of the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, reproduced Thursday the cartoons by Kurt Westergaard, originally published by the newspaper in 2005.

“The publication of the book is a deliberate attempt to stoke sectarian feelings and undermine the efforts of the international community to strengthen mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence between followers of various religions,” Ihsanoglu said.

“Further, it is a violation of the 20th article of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966, besides violating article 140 of the Danish law that stipulates the protection against ridiculing religious sentiments and article 266 for the protection against religious contempt.”

The publication of the book reaffirms the concern of the OIC about the misuse of the right of freedom of press to fuel and spread Islamophobia in the West, he added.

Ihsanoglu said that he had discussed the issue with Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen in New York.

Diplomats from Muslim countries based in Copenhagen had urged the Danish government to halt the publication of Rose's book, which features 12 anti-Islamic cartoons.

Exactly five years ago, the newspaper ran a front-page spread with the same cartoons featuring the Prophet. The drawings sparked outrage across the Muslim world and led to violent protests against Denmark and Danish interests in 2006. The OIC had made it clear at the time that calls for Westergaard’s death were un-Islamic and urged Muslims to refrain from violent protests.