Danish lawmakers refuse to apologize, cancel trip to Iran
Visit by Danish group cancelled after Iran demands apology for Muhammad cartoons
Unyielding stance by Denmark: A group of Danish lawmakers has canceled a trip to Iran because Tehran demanded they condemn the reprinting of Prophet Muhammad cartoons in newspapers, a spokeswoman said Saturday.
Ten members of the parliament's Foreign Policy Committee, including Denmark's former foreign minister Mogens Lykketoft, were scheduled to visit Iran between Feb. 18 and Feb. 21.
Mette Vestergaard, a committee official, confirmed the cancellation. "The Iranian ambassador asked the Foreign Policy Committee to condemn the drawings. They can't and they won't," she said without giving more details.
The lawmakers had planned to meet with members of the Iranian Parliament as well as looking into issues including the country's human rights and uranium enrichment.
Plot to kill cartoonist foiled
More than a dozen Danish newspapers on Wednesday reprinted a cartoon that sparked massive protests in Muslim countries two years ago. The newspapers acted after police revealed an alleged plot to kill the creator of a caricature.
Danish police said they have arrested several people suspected of plotting to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Muhammad drawings that sparked the uproar.
The arrests were made in pre-dawn raids in Aarhus, western Denmark, "to prevent a terror-related murder," the police intelligence agency said.
