In September, the website of the International Union of Muslim Scholars headed by global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, posted a statement by Qaradawi expressing his relative satisfaction with the way the Swedish cartoon controversy was handled by the Swedish government:
The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has been closely following the consequences of the publication of an offensive cartoon about Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be on him) in the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda. Although this unacceptable practice is similar to what was printed in the Danish newspaper in September 2005, IUMS observed a considerable difference between the stances of the Danish government and the Swedish government. While the former showed indifference to the feelings of its Muslim citizens and indeed the Muslims of the world, the Swedish government has been more positive, especially after the statement of the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in August 30, 2007. Prominent among the positive reactions was the meeting of the Swedish prime minister with 22 Muslim ambassadors in Sweden. Despite the fact that this meeting did not achieve what Muslims all over the world see as their right against those who offended their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the clear statement made by Swedish prime minister showing respect to Islam and Muslims deserves appreciation.
Previous posts have reported on the dual role the Brotherhood played in both stirring up the controversy while positioning itself as a mediator at the same time. The controversy originally began following the publication in Sweden by a Swedish newspaper of a cartoon showing the the Prophet Mohammed with the head of a dog.