Arabs and cartoons again

Once again, key persons in the Arab world are offended by cartoons.  This time it is Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.  Why is the crusty dictator angry?  Sofia News Agency reports that Tripoli was "offended and disappointed" by a series of caricatures drawn by Bulgarian cartoonists whose aim was to focus attention on The Condemned Six of Benghazi.

Cartoons mocking Libya's leader and the justice system, published by a Bulgarian daily Wednesday, seemed to have angered Tripoli.

One of the caricatures shows Muammar Qaddafi playing on a chessboard with "figures" that are actually Bulgaria's five jailed nurses.

In another picture, the colonel is a devil over a boiling cauldron with the women inside, and a cartoon shows Libyan judges with condoms pulled over their faces.

One wonders if a vindictive response will be exacted against the innocent nurses for such an insult.

Eric Schwappach   5 03 06

Update:

Bulgaria's president is meeting with Libya's ambassador to discuss the matter. Meanwhile, a Bulgarian intellectual worries.