Denmark warned its citizens yesterday to avoid Saudi Arabia, and gunmen in Gaza said any Scandinavians there risked attack, as Muslim fury mounted over newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
Denmark has defended the newspaper Jyllands-Posten's right to publish the satirical drawings that seemed to portray the Prophet as a terrorist and which a Norwegian paper has run too. Some Muslims, who deem images of prophets disrespectful and caricatures blasphemous, have threatened Danes and demanded an apology.
Saudi Arabia has recalled its envoy from Denmark and its religious leaders called for a boycott of Danish products.
Many Saudis have started boycotting Danish goods and across the Gulf, several supermarkets pulled Scandinavian foods off the shelves after consumers complained.
The 12 cartoons were published in September, but the row erupted only this month. One showed Mohammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb.
Jyllands-Posten said yesterday that it regretted offending Muslims but defended its right to publish the drawings.
Libya has closed its Copenhagen embassy, and thousands of Palestinians marched in protest yesterday.
An Iraqi militant group yesterday called for attacks on Danish and Norwegian targets, saying a boycott was not enough, according to a statement attributed to the Mujahideen Army.
The internet statement called on fighters to "hit whatever targets possible belonging to these two countries and others that follow their steps". It could not be authenticated.
Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday advised colleagues in the European Union of the situation and the bloc's executive said it might complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) about the boycott if the Saudi government had encouraged it.
"The EU strongly rejects any threats by militant factions against EU citizens," EU Foreign Ministers said in a statement.
The Danish Foreign Ministry advised against non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia and urged Danes to be cautious in other Muslim countries.
"Danes who choose to stay in Saudi Arabia should show extraordinarily high watchfulness," it added on its website.
The Danish Red Cross said it had pulled two employees out of Gaza and one from Yemen, and Norway's Foreign Ministry said two Norwegian aid workers in Gaza were planning to leave yesterday.