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Palestinian gunmen storm EU offices

Updated: 31/Jan/2006 17:29

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As world leaders pondered how to react to last week’s Hamas victory in the Palestinian election, armed Palestinian militants raided the European Union offices in Gaza on Monday.

The action was apparently taken in protest against the publication of a series of cartoons in a Danish newspaper last September and this month in a Norwegian newspaper.

The 12 drawings, which included a picture of a prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb, were deemed extremely offensive to Muslims. They sparked protests throughout the Muslim world, including the burning of Danish flags.

Machine guns and grenades

In Monday’s incident, the militants, who later said they belonged to the Fatah-linked Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, entered the EU building brandishing machine guns and grenades while another group of gunmen guarded the entrance.

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Although they only stayed in the building for abour half an hour the militants said they will not allow any Danish or Norwegian residents to enter the Gaza Strip or the West Bank unless the Danish government apologises.

“We are calling on the citizens of the two countries to take this threat seriously because our cells are ready to implement this all over Gaza," one of the militants was reported to have said.

Further anti-Danish demos

The break-in was followed by a second demonstration which saw militants stamp on the Danish flag and burn it.

Also on Monday, Hamas called for Muslims around the world to boycott Danish products. A spokesman for the organisation said "the Protestant community in Denmark supported this racism under the slogan and allegation ’freedom of speech."’

Nordic countries have provided much assistance to the Palestinians and the action was condemned by the Danish-Palestinian Friendship Association

Saying that the threats were “reprehensible”, a spokesman for the Danish group said: "They forget that the Nordic countries are among the biggest donors to Palestine and do a lot of social work in the area.”

News organizations have reported that at least three Danes working at the Rafah terminal crossing from Gaza into Egypt had been told to go to their base in Israel while between 50 and 100 Danes remained in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.