PARIS, May 12, 2006 (AFP) - A video by an al-Qaeda member posted on the Internet Thursday called upon Muslims to attack Denmark, Norway and France for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

"Muslims avenge your prophet .... We deeply desire that the small state of Denmark, Norway and France ... are struck hard and destroyed," declared Libyan Mohammed Hassan, who escaped from US custody at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan last July.

"Destroy their buildings, make their ground shake and transform them into a sea of blood," said Hassan, dressed in military fatigues and a black turban, and holding an assault rifle.

Hassan, also known as Sheikh Abu Yahia al-Libi, was one of four Arab terror suspects who broke out of the high-security detention facility at Bagram, the main US military base in Afghanistan.

It was unclear when the 35-minute video, produced by al-Sahab, a media organisation close to al-Qaeda, was recorded.

The posting of the video comes three week's after al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's call in a video to boycott products from the United States and European countries which supported Denmark over the publication of the cartoons.

Earlier this year, the cartoons, including one showing the prophet with a bomb-shaped turban, sparked violent protests by Muslims worldwide after they appeared in Danish and other European newspapers.

Muslims consider any image of the prophet to be blasphemous.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Friday there was no increased danger for his country after an al-Qaeda member called for attacks against Norway, Denmark and France.

"We regularly receive threats of violence from that organisation and I don't attach more importance to this one than to those received in the past," he told journalists.

A video by an al-Qaeda member posted on the Internet Thursday called upon Muslims to attack Denmark, Norway and France for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

"Muslims avenge your prophet .... We deeply desire that the small state of Denmark, Norway and France ... are struck hard and destroyed," declared Libyan Mohammed Hassan, who escaped from US custody at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan last July.

Asked whether Norway was now in greater danger than before, Stoere said: "I don't have that impression."

Denmark said it was still studying the threat.

"We are evaluating how serious the threat is," a Danish foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.

The Norwegian and Danish governments have repeatedly said they regretted any offence caused to the feelings of Muslims, but refused to apologise for the publication of the drawings themselves.

Copyright AFP

Subject: French news