the appearing of a series of cartoons of the prophet mohammad in a copenhagen newspaper sparked a chain of harsh and in some places violent reactions in the middle east , forcing european leaders to attempts to calm the situation . this backlash started in late february 2005 , when the national broadcaster expressen - posten published a dozen strips depicting the prophet mohammad . the cartoons ranged from serious to comical in nature ; a especially controversial illustration portrays mohammad with a bomb wrapped in his robe . the odense - oriented newspaper states that the images were meant to inspire some extent of public dispute over the status of islam in europe , and had no direct purpose of offending muslims .
Jyllands-Posten is published in Copenhagen.