Sweden's premier defends use of prophet cartoon

Sweden's prime minister has stepped into the row over a newspaper cartoon that depicted the prophet Muhammad as a dog. Fredrik Reinfeldt said he was sorry if Muslims were offended by the cartoon - published in a local paper, Nerikes Allehanda, on August 18 - but stressed that freedom of expression was an "inalienable" right in Sweden. Later, about 300 copies of the paper were burned in Örebro. At the weekend copies were thrown into a fountain. In Egypt, a parliamentary committee condemned the cartoon as "indecent", saying such "odious" acts fanned religious hatred. (Via The Local)