COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – A group of Danish lawmakers have canceled a trip to Iran because Tehran demanded they condemn the reprinting of Prophet Muhammad cartoons in newspapers, a spokeswoman said Saturday.
Ten members of the parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee, including Denmark’s former foreign minister Mogens Lykketoft, were scheduled to visit Iran between Feb. 18 and Feb. 21.
Mette Vestergaard, a committee official, confirmed the cancellation. "The Iranian ambassador asked the Foreign Policy Committee to condemn the drawings. They can’t and they won’t," she said without giving more details.
The lawmakers had planned to meet with members of the Iranian Parliament as well as looking into issues including the country’s human rights and uranium enrichment.
More than a dozen Danish newspapers on Wednesday reprinted a cartoon that sparked massive protests in Muslim countries two years ago. The newspapers acted after police revealed an alleged plot to kill the creator of a caricature.
