HELSINKI, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The board of Finnish culture magazine Kaltio decided Friday to sack its chief editor, Jussi Vilkuna, after he refused to remove a cartoon featuring the Prophet Muhammad from the magazine's website.

    The cartoon appeared in the Finnish culture magazine Kaltio's website last Friday.

    On Thursday, Finnish insurance firms Tapiola, Sampo and Pohjolawithdrew their advertisements from the Kaltio website.

    Olavi Nieminen, the chief lawyer of Pohjola, said the posting of the cartoon had been irresponsible and a wrong way to defend free speech.

    Kaltio has about 2,000 print subscribers throughout Finland. Enditem