Safety fears stop UK magazine's prophet cartoon

A BRITISH magazine said today it would not publish a controversial cartoon of prophet Mohammed, after police said they could not guarantee the safety of its staff if it went ahead.

The Liberal magazine was intending to publish one of the 12 Danish cartoons which have caused global uproar - alongside a statement on free speech.

But the statement now appears on the magazine's website.

Readers are invited to view a link to the controversial cartoon, which shows a cartoonist hunched over a sketch of an Arab, sweating profusely. It is left ambiguous as to whether this stress is caused by the light he is sitting under or the fact he is tackling a controversial subject by drawing an Arab figure.

Editor Ben Ramm said: "Despite our wishes and convictions, for reasons of safety the magazine will no longer carry the cartoon itself."