Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Danish flag was burned in the West Bank yesterday as Muslims protested the publication of cartoons satirizing the prophet Muhammad by Denmark's biggest newspaper, the Nordic nation's Foreign Ministry said.

Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen are boycotting Danish goods as a result of the cartoons, Denmark's Arla Foods AmbA, which describes itself as the biggest Danish exporter of consumables to the Middle East, said today. Libya followed Saudi Arabia in closing its embassy in Copenhagen, Danish broadcaster Danmarks Radio said today.

An Iraq-based group calling itself the Army of Mujahedeen today urged its members to go beyond a boycott and pursue Danish and Norwegian targets, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a statement the group posted on the Internet.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Oct. 21 refused to meet ambassadors from 11 majority-Muslim countries to discuss censuring Jyllands-Posten after it printed 12 cartoons of the prophet on Sept. 30, including one showing Muhammad wearing a bomb in place of a turban. Muslim leaders want an official apology.

``The incidents are worrying because we usually have a good dialogue with the Arab world,'' Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said in a statement on his ministry's Web site late yesterday. The ministry is working ``to deal with the situation in all its aspects, diplomatic, security and economic.''

Moeller is discussing the boycotts with his European counterparts at a meeting in Brussels today.

Ambassadors Meet

Ambassadors in Copenhagen from majority-Muslim countries met earlier today to discuss whether to join their Saudi and Libyan counterparts in leaving Denmark, Danmarks Radio reported today. They have yet to announce their decision.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has raised the issue of the trade boycott with the Saudi government, who denied orchestrating the blockade, EU spokesman Peter Power said. Mandelson, of the U.K., will discuss the matter again at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Oman this weekend, according to Power.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton called the cartoons ``appalling,'' according to Agence France-Presse. ``So now what are we going to do? Replace the anti-Semitic prejudice with anti-Islamic prejudice?'' he said today at an economic conference in the Qatari capital of Doha, AFP reported.

Danes, Norwegians Targeted

Danes and Norwegians were also the target of protests in Gaza today demanding they be sent home pending an official apology for the cartoons, AFP reported. Norwegians were targeted because Oslo-based Magazinet on Jan. 10 republished the Jyllands-Posten cartoons, AFP said.

Sweden today advised against travel to Gaza and the West Bank after the country was added to lists that were distributed by religious groups condemning the cartoons, according to the Foreign Ministry's Web site. The ministry did not say why Sweden was added to the lists.

The ambassadors or representatives to Denmark of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, Morocco and the Palestinian Authority on Oct. 12 wrote to Rasmussen, saying the cartoons were part of a ``smearing campaign'' against Muslims and urged Rasmussen ``to take all those responsible to task under the law of the land.''

Rasmussen on Oct. 21 said it wasn't the role of government to circumscribe freedom of the press. Still, in his New Year's address to the nation, Rasmussen said he ``condemns any expression or act that attempts to demonize groups of people based on their religion or ethnic background.''

Flemming Rose, cultural editor at Jyllands-Posten's Copenhagen office, said the paper won't apologize.

No Regrets

``An apology would imply we regret what we've done, which we don't,'' Rose said in a telephone interview on Jan. 23. ``We do satires of Jesus, the royal family and politicians. Not to do satires of Muslims would show prejudice, as we would be treating them differently from all other groups.''

An umbrella group of 21 Muslim organizations has had its claim the cartoons violated Denmark's racism law rejected by Denmark's High Court and is waiting for a decision from the country's Supreme Court, Ahmed Akkari, the group's spokesman said on Jan. 18. The group also plans to take its grievances to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, he said.

Two employees of Arla Foods were attacked in the Middle East on Saturday, Arla spokesman Finn Hansen told Danish broadcaster TV2 late yesterday. Novo Nordisk A/S of Bagsvaerd, Denmark, the world's No. 1 insulin maker, has also had its products removed from hospitals in Saudi Arabia, company spokesman Mike Rulis said.

Potential Target

Two Danish Red Cross workers in Gaza and one in Yemen have been called home, the organization said on its Web site today.

Denmark, together with Italy, was singled out as a potential al-Qaeda target after the July 7 London bombings, for its participation in the Iraq war. The country has 540 soldiers in Iraq and U.S. President George W. Bush has called Rasmussen a ``steadfast'' ally.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tasneem Brogger in Copenhagen at at tbrogger@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 30, 2006 11:46 EST