"The Anti-Islam cartoons, published recently by some European newspapers, were not a sign of respect",said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Sunday 26/2/2006.

In a message he sent to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, in response to another sent by the Egyptian top diplomat, Straw noted that such cartoons should not have been published.

According to a diplomatic source, Straw expressed his understanding of the provocations caused by the caricatures.

Abut-Gheit has sent several messages to his European counterparts over the narrative of cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad.