Iranian Embassy sends protest letter to Foreign Ministry

The Iranian Embassy in Prague has sent a letter of protest to Czech diplomatic officials. The Foreign Ministry's spokesman Vit Kolar said on Friday that the letter was in response to the reprinting of a caricature depicting the Prophet Mohammed by two Czech newspapers. In recent days, the caricatures, first printed by a Danish newspaper, sparked vehement and sometimes violent protests in Muslim communities from Asia to the Middle East. The Czech dailies - Mlada Fronta Dnes and the financial newspaper Hospodarske Noviny - defended their decision to reprint one of over a dozen caricatures, on the grounds that it was for "illustrative purposes" only. The Iranian Embassy has asked for an official apology. But, the Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, while denouncing the cartoons, has stressed it is up to the dailies themselves to choose what to print.