The terror organisations Hamas and Hezbollah were called to help when the Danish delegation of imams in September 2005 travelled through the Middle East to draw attention to Jyllands-Posten newspaper’s printing of the Mohammed cartoons.
According to a new book written by Ahmed Akkari, one of the architects behind the Cartoon Crisis, the delegation’s meetings with Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon were never mentioned outside the closed circle of imams who feared they would lose credibility in the media.
“Our visits with Hezbollah and Hamas had to be kept secret to the Danish public no matter what,” Akkari explains in the book. “If someone revealed our partnership with infamous terror organisations, we would lose the success we were just beginning to have.”
Akkari regretted crisis
The delegation’s travels in the Middle East ending up causing violence, fierce protests and boycotts of Danish goods.
Since Akkari went public last year to express his regret at his involvement in the Cartoon Crisis. Since then, he has been an active advocate of democracy and freedom of speech.