The Mayhem Continues

Even as Jyllands-Posten provides an apology for publication in Saudi papers, the death toll continues to rise around the world. In Nigeria, 12 people were killed due to riots ostensibly caused by outrage over the cartoons.

"Allow me in the name of Jyllands-Posten to apologize for what happened and declare my strong condemnation of any step that attacks specific religions, ethnic groups and peoples. I hope that with this I have removed the misunderstanding," wrote Carsten Juste, the editor of Jyllands-Posten.

The full-page advertisements appeared in Asharq al-Awsat, which is printed around the Arab world, as well as the local al-Riyadh and al-Jazira.

It doesn't matter what the paper does now, as these events have spun out of its control. Various groups and countries are now exploiting the existence of these cartoons for their own purposes. (Hat Tip: Brian J. Markowitz)

The rioting in Nigeria includes torching Christian churches and immolating an unfortunate Christian:

It was the first major protest to erupt over the issue in Africa's most populous nation. An Associated Press reporter saw mobs of Muslim protesters swarm through the city center with machetes, sticks and iron rods. One group threw a tire around a man, poured gas on him and set him ablaze.

...

Thousands of rioters burned 15 churches in Maiduguri in a three-hour rampage before troops and police reinforcements restored order, Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi said. Iwendi said security forces arrested dozens of people in the city about 1,000 miles northeast of the capital, Lagos.

Chima Ezeoke, a Christian Maiduguri resident, said protesters attacked and looted shops owned by minority Christians, most of them with origins in the country's south.

"Most of the dead were Christians beaten to death on the streets by the rioters," Ezeoke said. Witnesses said three children and a priest were among those killed.

More recent reports put the toll at 16.


Meanwhile demonstrations continue in Pakistan and new demonstrations took place in Austria, Britain, and the US. And rioters damaged the US embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.

UPDATE:
While Jyllands Posten has given an apology for publishing the paper, one of the cartoonists has no regrets.

UPDATE:
Jay Tea at Wizbang wonders why we have to accept the media's determination of what is newsworthy when comparing the media response to the 12 cartoons to the newest batch of Abu Ghraib photos.

Flemming Rose talks about why he published the photos in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has a huge roundup of sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria over the past several years. The cartoons are just another excuse to start rioting.

UPDATE:
I was out all day (yes, even bloggers have to go out and about in the world without blogging every 15 minutes) and just noticed the comments and update on the story I first ran earlier this morning. As noted by Agora in the comments and posted at LGF, Jyllands Posten did not make any apologies. The ads taken were apparently submitted by someone else in the paper's name and Jyllands Posten denies publishing the ads. This isn't the first instance of perfidy in the cartoon jihad. That goes to the Danish imams who added a couple of extra cartoons to the original 12 when the original cartoons didn't spark the kind of reaction that those imams wanted.

Technorati: Buy Danish "jyllands-posten mohammed" "muhammad cartoon" embassy torchings "muhammad image archive"