CAIRO: Money changers in Egypt will not accept Danish or Norwegian crowns in protest over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that appeared in newspapers in those countries, a professional association said on Thursday.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the board of the money changers section of the federation of Egyptian chambers of commerce, Egypt s official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported.
It was not clear if the decision applied only to smaller private money changing firms or also to operations run by commercial banks.
“This decision was taken in protest over cartoons insulting the Prophet Mohammad published in the Danish and Norwegian newspapers, MENA quoted Mohammad Hassan Obeid, head of the money changers board, as saying.
The 12 cartoons, one showing the founder of Islam brandishing a knife and another showing him with bombs nestling in his turban, have outraged many Muslims, provoking violent riots in several Muslim nations.
Protests against the cartoons have been muted in Egypt, the Arab world s most populous nation and home to Al-Azhar, one of the oldest and most revered seats of Islamic learning.
Egypt, a major tourist destination, attracts about 2,000 Danes a week during the peak winter and summer seasons which each last about three months, a Danish embassy official said.
The Norwegian embassy in Cairo was looking into the reports, an official said.
Protesters burnt the Danish and Norwegian missions in Damascus on Saturday. A day later, demonstrators torched the Danish consulate in Beirut. Reuters
