Over the weekend (3-4 December) the press spokesman of The Islamic Community (Det Islamiske Trossamfund) in Denmark, Kasem Said Ahmad, attempted to calm down a frightened Danish public by claiming that the people behind the death threats against 12 Danish illustrators had no connection with nor any support among Islamic organisations in Denmark.
Sappho, however, has learned that there are close and long-lasting ties between the Pakistani party Jamaat-e-Islami, whose youth organisation Shabab-e-Milli has put a price on the illustrators' heads, and organised Pakistani circles in Copenhagen.
A dear guest
Jamaat-e-Islami's leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, has visited Copenhagen several times over the past few years. In 2000 he spoke at a mass meeting in Nørrebrohallen in Copenhagen to which he had been invited by the Danish branch of Jamaat-e-Islami's sister organisation Tanzeem-e-Islami. It is officially charged with managing the party's religious, cultural and social activities both in Pakistan and abroad, but in reality Tanzeem-e-Islami is a cover for the party.
