COPENHAGEN, February 2, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The furor over publishing the provocative cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) continued to escalate Thursday, February 2, with Muslims across the world venting their fury on Denmark and other EU states as the Danish editor who first published the caricatures saying he would not have done so if he had known the consequences.

"If I had known that the lives of Danish soldiers and civilians would be threatened, if I had known that as my finger hovered one centimeter above the send button for publishing the drawings, would I have hit it? No," Jyllands-Posten editor-in-chief Carsten Juste told the Politiken daily.

The daily published twelve drawings late September that included portrayals of a man assumed to be the Prophet wearing a time-bomb shaped turban and showed him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by shrouded women.

"Had he known about the death threats, the people burning the Danish flag in the West Bank, he would not have published the caricatures," Juste said, adding that "no responsible editor-in-chief would", according to Agence France Presse (AFP).

Several European newspapers entered the fray this week by reprinting some or all of the blasphemous cartoons, including the French daily France-Soir and Germany's Die Welt.

Some said they were printing the cartoons in support of Jyllands-Posten, while others said they were used to illustrate articles on the dispute.

Jyllands-Posten has recently said the cartoons "were not in violation of Danish law but have irrefutably offended many Muslims, and for that we apologize."

"One can expect that the boycott will spread further," said Moeller.

The printing of the anti-Prophet cartoons has triggered boycott of Danish products across the Muslim world.

"One can expect that the boycott will spread further," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller told the Boersen financial daily.

"There are still countries that have not held their Friday prayer sessions about this question, and now countries like France, Germany and Austria have published the drawings."

"This could heat things up further," he added.

Moeller was especially concerned about a boycott in Algeria, which along with Morocco annually buys about one billion kroner (162 million dollars, 134 million euros) in Danish exports, according to Boersen.

"Since France Soir has also published the 12 drawings there is now suddenly an audience on the other side of the Mediterranean, which so far has remained calm, that could suddenly react," Moeller told the paper.

Paris daily France Soir reprinted on Wednesday, February 1, twelve controversial cartoons depicting and ridiculing Prophet Muhammad, heightening up the Muslim anger over the move.

A day later, the publication's managing editor was sacked for publishing the insulting drawings.

Meanwhile, the Muslim anger over the blasphemous caricatures continued to escalate Thursday.

In the occupied Palestinian territories, gunmen surrounded EU offices in the Gaza Strip, demanding an apology for the anti-Prophet caricatures.

In Indonesia, dozens of people picketed the governor's office in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar during a visit by Danish Red Cross secretary-general Jorgen Paulsen.

"Please tell your country that we condemn the action," protest coordinator Das'ad Latief was quoted by Detikcom news Web site as telling Paulsen.

Speaking to the protestors, Paulsen, who was to discuss assistance related to the handling of floods in the province, described the publication of the drawings as a "stupid action," according to the state Antara news agency.

Joining the outcry, Pakistan's madrassahs (religious schools) called for withdrawing ambassador from Denmark over the cartoons.

"We demand the Pakistani government withdraw its ambassador from Denmark for allowing blasphemous cartoons of the Holy Prophet Muhammad," Qari Hanif Jallundhari, a senior leader of the Ittehad Tanzeemat Madaris (madrassahs union), said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia had recalled its ambassador from Denmark and Libya had closed its embassy in the Scandanivian country in protest of the drawings.

"These blasphemous caricatures have hurt millions of Muslims in the world. We demand a clear and public apology from the Danish government for the crime which had hurt Muslims," he said.