After several publications in Denmark and other European countries printed a blasphemous cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad, the controversy hit closer to home as The Rhinoceros Times, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based weekly, reproduced the cartoon in its February 16 issue.

The Muslim-American community in North Carolina was not only outraged, condemning the reproduction of the controversial cartoon, but also demanded an apology from publisher/editor William Hammer.

Hammer, however, defended his decision to publish the cartoon, saying that he wanted his readers to know the reason the cartoon resulted in violent uprisings among Muslims.

“We believe the cartoon does not reflect the Muslims living in United States, but it reflects the Muslims who turned violent and held demonstrations all over the world,” Hammer said.

The members of the Muslim-American community described the reproduction of the cartoon as insulting, and they planned to hold a demonstration in downtown Greensboro after the Jummah (Friday) prayer.

Wajih Muhammad, director of the Islamic Center of Triad, who first took notice of the reproduction of the cartoon, told this correspondent that Greensboro Mayor Keith Holliday called on the Muslim-American community and apologized. The Muslim community there, however, wanted the publisher and the editor – not the mayor – to apologize, said Muhammad.

Meanwhile, Holliday assured Muhammad that he was going to meet with the publisher and editor of Rhinoceros Times and would try his best to resolve the issue.

“The mayor met the publisher William Hammer, but his effort was in vain as Hammer refused to apologize,” said Muhammad, adding that the only one thing that could stop the planned demonstration is an apology from the Rhinoceros Times.

When Hammer was asked by Sada-e-Pakistan wether he would apologize for the reproduction of the cartoon, he said: “First of all, I did not yet get any official demand from the local Muslim-American community to apologize. And secondly I want to make it clear that the purpose of the reproduction of the cartoon is not to insult the local Muslims. I feel sorry if the cartoon hurts the feelings of many Muslims.”

But Hammer added that although it is not allowed in Islamic countries to publish the images of the Prophet Muhammad, there is no such law here in the United States.

“We believe that the cartoon reflects Muslims who turned violent and demonstrate all over the world,” Hammer added.

According to Muhammad, The Rhinoceros Times is a small local newspaper that is distributed free of cost in Greensboro and nearby towns. He further said that freedom of expression does not mean to insult others.

“We were in the Islamic Center of Triad when the issue of the reproduction of the cartoon was announced to the Muslims who gathered there to offer their Jummah (Friday) prayer. The reaction of the local Muslims was one of outrage,” said Faisal Yasim, a North Carolina-based Pakistani immigrant correspondent, in a telephone interview.

According to Muhammad, 50,000 Muslims live in the Triad area of North Carolina. Most of them are from Africa, the Middle East, Somalia and Pakistan.

Since the Muslim community demands an apology from the publisher and editor of The Rhinoceros Times and the paper has so far refused to do so, it seems that the issue on the controversial cartoon in Greensboro, and along with other parts of the world, is far from over.