Amman, Jordan - The publisher of a Jordanian tabloid weekly newspaper has sacked a chief editor who reprinted cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that have caused outrage across the Islamic world.
Editor Jihad Momani apologised on Friday and said he had wanted to illustrate the extent of the insult against Islam and Muslims in the Danish cartoons.
Momani was dismissed by the publishers of his Shihan weekly hours after its Thursday edition carried the cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.
Anger has erupted in the Middle East after more European newspapers reprinted the cartoons, originally published by Danish daily Jyllands-Posten last September. Muslims consider any images of Mohammad to be blasphemous.
The cartoons have touched off an international row and debate on the freedom of the media and respect for religion.
Media owners and editors in the majority conservative Muslim country of Jordan said Shihan's article was being used by a hostile Western media to show that the fuss over the cartoons was overblown and that Arab papers were themselves reprinting them.
Arab Printers Company, the publisher, also withdrew copies of the popular tabloid from news stands across the country and promised tough moves against those involved.
In a public letter of apology, Momani said he did not mean to cause offence by reprinting the cartoons as part of an article headlined "an Islamic Intifada (Uprising) against the Danish insult to Islam."
"Oh I ask God to forgive me and I announce to everyone my deep regret for the gross mistake I have committed in Shihan without intention, which I fell into in my enthusiasm to defend our religion and the life of the Prophet," Momani said.
The Paris newspaper France Soir sacked its managing editor this week after the daily printed the cartoons.
Shihan also published in its article a list of Danish firms and companies that Islamist activists have urged consumers to boycott through a mobile text message and e-mail campaign.