Danish Editor Takes an Indefinite Leave

COPENHAGEN Flemming Rose, the Danish editor whose decision to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad helped provoke weeks of fury in the Muslim world, said in an interview on Friday that he was leaving his newspaper on indefinite vacation following a series of recent mistakes. Rose stood by the decision of the newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, to publish the caricatures, citing the freedom of the press. And he declined to apologize for the drawings, which have prompted widespread protests across the Middle East, boycotts of Danish goods and the burning down of Danish embassies. He said in an interview, however, that the stress of recent events had given him sleepless nights and affected his judgment. "I am thankful that the newspaper has given me the chance to recover. I am tired," he said. "In the middle of a crisis, you do not always recognize the tensions placed on you. I'm glad someone on the paper had the guts to make the decision to give me a break because sometimes you want to keep on fighting." Source: International Herald Tribune Tags: Denmark, Press, Gr33n Data