“The ambassador repeated his regret at the controversy created by the publication”
Sweden has denied reports that a diplomat apologized to Muslim leaders for the publication in Sweden of a http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1655 depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad as a dog.
The Swedish ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Jan Thesleff, met Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the Organization for the Islamic Conference (OIC), on Tuesday in Jeddah and offered his “deepest apologies for the controversy created by the publishing of the hurtful depiction,” the 57-nation bloc said in a statement.
But the Swedish Foreign Ministry immediately denied that the ambassador had made any apology, saying he had only expressed regret.
“The ambassador repeated his regret at the controversy created by the publication, but not for the publication itself,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Björkander told The Local.
She described the OIC’s interpretation of the meeting as a “misunderstanding.”Björkander said Thesleff was dissatisfied that the OIC had said he had apologized, but did not plan to demand that the organization change its statement.
http://www.thelocal.se/8469/20070912/