STOCKHOLM, Sept 6: Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has invited ambassadors from Muslim countries to talks over a drawing of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) published in a Swedish newspaper.

Mr Reinfeldt has been trying to prevent an international crisis over the sketch, which has drawn protests from Swedish Muslim groups and formal complaints from Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Iran.

The prime minister had invited ambassadors from Arabic and Muslim countries to a meeting on Friday, Mr Reinfeldt’s spokesman Oscar Hallen said. The invitation was sent out to all 20 Muslim countries with ambassador representation in Sweden, of which more than 15 had accepted it.

The sketch by Swedish artist Lars Vilks was published in an Aug 19 editorial in the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper, which criticised Swedish art galleries for refusing to display Vilks’ drawings. Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the prophet for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Mr Reinfeldt has been trying to reach out to Muslim groups in Sweden and abroad to avoid a repeat of last year’s mass protests in Muslim countries over Danish newspaper caricatures of the prophet.

Many observers say Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen exacerbated that crisis when he refused to hold talks with Muslim ambassadors who had requested a meeting.

“I want to point out that we are the ones that have taken the initiative to this meeting,” Mr Hallen said about Mr Reinfeldt’s invitation.—AP