KHARTOUM, Feb 25, 2008 (AFP) - Sudan's trade ministry on Monday declared a national boycott of Danish produce on the orders of President Omar al-Beshir in protest at the reprinting of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
The boycott was effective immediately, said the state minister for foreign trade, Al-Samih Siddik, and the customs authorities have ordered importers not to buy further Danish products.
Local media said the action would affect about 60 Danish imports available in Sudan, largely dairy products, although the volume of trade was not known.
Various groups and organisations -- mostly close to the government -- have called for a massive demonstration against Denmark in Khartoum on Wednesday.
On Friday, around 200 Sudanese demonstrated in the capital calling for an end to diplomatic relations with Denmark and a trade boycott.
Protests have raged in a number of Muslim countries since 17 Danish dailies last week reprinted a drawing featuring the Prophet Mohammed's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.
The caricature was one of several drawings that sparked violent protests that culminated in early 2006 with the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut and the death of dozens of people in Nigeria.
The Danish papers republished the caricature a day after police in Denmark foiled a plot to murder the cartoonist, insisting it was a gesture of solidarity with him and a blow in defence of freedom of expression.
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