Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the "deplorable act was a blatant disregard of Islamic sensitivities over the use of such images, which were particularly insulting to and forbidden by Islam." 

"It was even more regrettable that newspapers and journals in some other countries such as Norway, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain, had seen it fit to reproduce the Danish newspaper's offending caricatures despite worldwide protests against the publication of those images. 

"This is a deliberate act of provocation. They should cease and desist from doing so," he said in statement yesterday. 

Abdullah, who is also the chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Organisation (OIC), called upon Malaysians to remain calm and rational. 

"Let the perpetrators of the insult see the gravity of their own mistakes which only they themselves can and should correct," he added. 

Twelve caricatures depicting the prophet, first published by the Jyllands-Posten daily in Denmark in September last year, and then reprinted in newspapers in the other countries, raised outrage across the Islamic world. 

Muslims consider any images of Muhammad to be blasphemous, while the drawings have touched off international fury as well as debates on the clash between freedom of speech and respect for religion. 

When contacted, National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) secretary-general Rev Wong Kim Kong said that he supported the Prime Minister's expression of regret over the incident. 

"While others may regard the caricatures as trivial, for Muslim, to depict their prophet as such is abomination. It is only right for people to be more sensitive to the religion of others.  

Likewise, the Malaysian Consultative Council deputy president K. Pardip said: "No one should have the right to ridicule the religion and beliefs of others."