DAMASCUS, Feb. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Syria has recalled its ambassador to Denmark over newspaper cartoons which Muslims deem as offensive to Islam's Prophet Mohammad for consultation over the matter, the official SANA news agency reported on Wednesday.

    The cartoons were published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September and republished in Norway last month and in the French paper France Soir on Wednesday. One of the cartoons depicts Prophet Mohammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.  

    Denmark and Norway tried to curb the damage on Tuesday while Arab countries called on Denmark to firmly punish the authors of the caricatures, SANA said.

    Syria was examining the Danish government's response, SANA added.

    Earlier this week, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the cartoons as an offense to Muslims and Arabs and demanded the Danish government punish the offending paper.

    Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, however, said that his government cannot apologize on behalf of independent media, but Jyllands-Posten has apologized.  

    According to Islamic tradition, realistic depictions of prophets were prohibited and caricatures of them were considered profane.  Enditem