Danish cartoonist, editor to face trial in Jordan

The Darnish artist and editor involved in the Islamic Prophet cartoon dispute will face trial in Jordan's capital of Amman, local daily Jordan Times reported on Thursday.
Kurt Westergaard, the artist whose depiction of the Prophet Mohamed that sparked worldwide fury, said he was ready to stand trial in Amman to defend himself.
But the 73-year-old cartoonist defended his drawings by saying that they were intended to show that some terrorists misuse Islam and take the Prophet Mohammad as a hostage.
He said "I respect Islam and its followers, and has nothing against it. However, I will not apologize. We have freedom of the press and religion in Denmark."
Toger Seidenfaden, chief editor of the Politiken, a Danish daily that republished the cartoons, said he was also ready to face court in Jordan and defend himself.
Seidenfaden said he was against of these cartoons, but explained that republishing them was just part of daily work to cover important issue.
The controversy began after 12 cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005, and deepened when the cartoons were reprinted in more countries.
This led to anger and protests across the Muslim world, some of which escalated into violence.
On June 3, Amman Prosecutor General Hassan Abdallat subpoenaed several Danish journalists and editors in response to a lawsuit filed in April by a local media-led campaign.
Source:Xinhua