Russia's muftis call for the prevention of violence over cartoons

MOSCOW, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - An official on Russia's Mufti Council said the organization would make every effort to prevent the violence that could erupt to protest the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in the European media.

"Now, the Mufti Council is restraining the situation in Russia to prevent the kinds of developments that took place in certain countries in the past days. The situation is under control," Deputy Chairman Mansur Shakirov said at an international conference.

However, Shakirov said 20 million Russian Muslims, along with the 1.4 billion Muslims worldwide, felt offended by the drawings.

"This provocation triggered a chain reaction that is very difficult to stop," he said.

The drawings were first published in a Danish newspaper in September, raising protests among Muslims around the world. In a demonstration of support for freedom of the press several newspapers in Norway, France, New Zealand and Italy reprinted the cartoons, thus fuelling violence in some Islamic states that left several people dead.

Shakirov said the freedom of press was vital for modern society, but that "everybody should remember ethics and esthetics".