Danish Prime Minister blames Iran & Syria

No surprise...but guess what? Denmark is scheduled to chair the UN Security Council when Iran is to be brought before it.

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark said Thursday that the governments of Iran and Syria had intentionally inflamed Muslim protests against a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad to distract attention from their own diplomatic crises.

"Syria and Iran have taken advantage of the situation because both countries are under international pressure," Rasmussen said in an interview that echoed statements Wednesday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rasmussen also said he would "not exclude the possibility" that Syria had also been involved in violent protests in Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

"I think they have taken this opportunity to use this case and a small country like Denmark as a distraction," Rasmussen said. He alleged that Iran was trying to divert attention from international pressure over its nuclear program and Syria from allegations that it was behind the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

"It is obvious that these events have now gone beyond the cartoons," he said, responding to a question about Rice's statements. "We are now facing an international crisis which has its roots in tensions in the Muslim world."

Rasmussen said he held "the two governments responsible" for mobs that attacked and burned Danish embassies in Tehran and Damascus. He said Denmark had lodged formal protests with the two governments and was considering further "diplomatic steps," which he declined to specify.