Denmark’s chief prosecutor says that he will not press charges against the newspaper that first published the Prophet Muhammad cartoons that angered Muslims worldwide.

The Foreign Ministry warned that the decision could cause "negative reactions" against Danes, and warned citizens to be cautious when traveling in Muslim countries.

Henning Fode, the Director of Public Prosecutions, upheld the decision of a regional prosecutor who ruled that the drawings published in Jyllands-Posten on September 30 did not violate Danish law. Mr Fode’s decision cannot be appealed.

His ruling said that the 12 cartoons, one of which shows the Prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, did not violate bans on racist and blasphemous speech.

"My decision is that there is no violation of the said rules of the Danish Criminal Code," Mr Fode said in a statement.

A regional prosecutor said in January that the drawings were protected by Denmark’s freedom of speech and did not violate rules on racism or blasphemy. A group of Danish Muslims said at the time they would appeal the ruling to the top prosecutor.

Meanwhile five men were arrested in Britain today over their alleged role in protests outside the Danish Embassy in London last month against the cartoons. Four of the five were held on suspicion of incitement to murder and all five are suspected of "using threatening words or written material to stir up racial hatred".

During the demonstrations on February 3 and 4, protesters held placards threatening a repeat of the September 11 or July 7 terror attacks. Among the slogans were "Massacre those who insult Islam" and "Europe you will pay, your 9/11 will come".

The demonstration attracted widespread political condemnation. Among those calling for prosecutions was the Muslim Council of Britain.

The Metropolitan Police said today: "A number of specialist evidence-gathering officers were deployed, who collected video, audio and stills of those within the crowd. A dedicated investigation team, Operation Laverda, was set up that day.

"After carefully reviewing all of the evidence and witness complaints a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution. Their advice was returned to us on March 7."

Four of the men arrested today were held in London and one in the West Midlands. The four men in London have been taken to a Central London police station while the fifth is being questioned at a police station in the West Midlands.

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