Jordan media to launch campaign against Danish press

At least 18 Jordanian media outlets will launch a campaign to protest the reprinting of a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in Danish newspapers, organisers said on Sunday.

Independent newspapers and websites, including Islamists ones, will run a series of articles and editorials from Wednesday against "attempts to distort Islam's image", the editor of Fact International weekly Zakaria Sheikh said.

"We will stand united and firm to fight Christian Zionists who seek to harm the image of Islam under the pretext of defending the freedom of expression," Sheikh told newswire AFP.

"They are in fact violating this freedom. They use the media to implement their scheme, and we will use the same means to counter them."

The campaign under the banner "The Messenger of God Unites Us", will carry articles demanding the expulsion of Denmark's ambassador to Jordan as well as boycotting Danish products.

"The campaign will also demand laws that criminalise and ban blaspheming Islam and the prophet," Sheikh said, adding he expected a total of 40 media outlets, including state-media organisations, to join the protest.

In a separate event on Monday, Jordan's powerful Islamist movement is planning a sit-in near the Danish embassy in Amman to protest the cartoons.

Protests against Denmark have raged across the Muslim world since 17 Danish dailies last week reprinted a drawing featuring Prophet Mohammed's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.

Jordan has condemned the cartoon, warning that it might lead to more extremism and harm relations between Denmark and Arab and Muslim countries.