Anthony Browne, Europe Correspondent for The Times, says that the crisis over cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad may have passed its worst

"There are cartainly hopes that the crisis is abating. The Danish Government said yesterday that it believes the worst of the protests have happened. And despite the news today that four people have been killed in Afghanistan, violent demonstrations across the Middle East are less numerous than they were last week.

"That said, there are plenty of signs that the economic boycott is holding firm and even gathering pace. Although Iran is the only government to have joined the boycott of Danish and, to a lesser extent, European exports, more and more businesses in the Middle East are signing up.

"Talking to Danes this week, many people told me that they fear this will be a long-running dispute and has tarnished the image of Denmark in the Middle East for years to come. And they say that there is very little the government can do.

"Watching the demonstrations across the Islamic world it has been clear that the dispute over the cartoons has been wrapped up in all sorts of domestic agendas. There are plenty of reasons why people in Afghanistan and Iraq and Pakistan are angry at symbols of the West, whether goaded by images of Muhammad or not.

"In the Palestinian Territories, the cartoons have been used by different factions for different reasons. It has been noticeable how Hamas, just elected as the new party of government, has acted with restraint, whereas Fatah, which has just lost power, has used the images to whip up opposition.

"It's also worth pointing out that European newspapers have also adopted a slightly different attitude towards the cartoons than the British press. If you look at the publication of the 12 drawings in Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine today, you can see that the press feels it has to keep publishing and reprinting the images to show it has not been intimidated.

"There is also a feeling that the press must keep printing the drawings of Muhammad until the Muslim world gets used to it, that's the thinking anyway. Europeans have drawn comparisons with Salman Rusdie and the Satanic Verses. Despite the murder of one of the book's publishers and its clear blasphemy, it is still available in shops and, as such, represents a victory for free speech.

"In terms of what can be done to defuse the row, imams across Europe have condemned the violence, as well as the cartoons. Tariq Ramadan, a Muslim scholar based in Switzerland who has a huge influence over Europe's Muslim population, has said that the protests were excessive.

"At the national level, there is plenty of high level diplomacy happening as well. Yesterday, the EU warned 19 Middle Eastern countries of their responsibilities to protect European embassies, although only the governments of Syria and Iran are really seen as condoning the violence. Presumably the next step will be to ask governments to work even harder to calm the controversy."

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