Russia PACE delegation to urge apology for Muslim cartoon insult

MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - The speaker of Russia's upper chamber of parliament stepped into the simmering row over media depictions of the main prophet of Islam Wednesday by saying he would ask the country's delegation to an authoritative European body to apologize to Muslims throughout the world.

Sergei Mironov described a proposal made by a senior member of the Federation Council to seek an apology from Denmark and a number of other European countries where satirical cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed were published, as "absolutely reasonable".

The idea to ask the Russian delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to raise the matter of an apology to the world's Muslims came from Viktor Shudegov, the chairman of the Federation Council's committee for culture, education and science.

"Our delegation to PACE should raise the issue of securing an apology from Denmark and all European countries that consider themselves civilized to the entire Muslim world, including the 20 million Russians who follow Islam," the senator said.

Depictions of Mohammed are explicitly prohibited in Islam. The cartoons, originally published in a Danish newspaper and subsequently reprinted in several other countries, provoked protests throughout the Muslim world, which led to the Danish Embassy in Lebanon being ransacked on Monday.