Call for tolerance

Britain's Prince Charles told Muslim scholars and students yesterday that the backlash over Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad showed the danger of religious insensitivity and intolerance.

Addressing 800 people at al-Azhar University, the heir to the British throne who will one day become head of the Church of England, said mistrust between the West and Islam was having "dreadful results" and urged tolerance.

"The recent ghastly strife and anger over the Danish cartoons shows the danger that comes of our failure to listen and to respect what is precious and sacred to others," he told the audience at one of Sunni Islam's top seats of learning.

The publication of the cartoons, one of which depicted the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban, sparked violence in the Muslim world. They were first printed in a Danish newspaper and then reprinted across Europe and other parts of the world.

Charles, who has urged the West to learn from Islam and received an honorary doctorate from al-Azhar yesterday, is on a tour which includes Saudi Arabia, Islam's birthplace, and India.

Welsh Church apologises

The Anglican Church in Wales said yesterday it had withdrawn the latest edition of its magazine which featured a reproduction of a controversial cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

The Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, said it had recalled about 400 copies of "Y Llan", the Welsh language periodical it produces, because it featured the cartoon which had appeared in the French newspaper France Soir.

"The Church in Wales is thoroughly investigating how this cartoon came to be reproduced in Y Llan," it said in a statement.

"Despite the publication's small circulation, we are concerned about the possibility of causing any offence to the Muslim community in Wales - with whom the Church in Wales has an excellent relationship - as a result of the reproduction of this cartoon."

The Church in Wales said the Bishop of St Davids Carl Cooper would head an investigation into how the cartoon came to appear in the magazine.

Swedish minister resigns

Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds quit yesterday after a row over the closure of a website with cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, embarrassing Prime Minister Goran Persson six months ahead of elections.

Social Democrat (SDP) leader Persson, behind in polls that favour the conservative opposition in September's vote, had for months resisted calls to sack the unpopular minister over her response to the Asian tsunami, in which 500 Swedes died.

But she was forced to resign when it was revealed this week that she had not given full information about her role in the closure of a site belonging to a far-right political party which published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad offensive to Muslims.

"Under the current circumstances I find it impossible to conduct my work and therefore choose to resign," Ms Freivalds said at a joint news conference with the prime minister.