Egyptian's Mickey Mouse cartoon outrages Muslims; Businessman apologizes, to no avail; Angry Salafis call for boycott of company.(News)

Byline: Amro Hassan; Los Angeles Times

CAIRO -- A picture of Mickey Mouse with a long beard and Minnie with a full-face veil posted on Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris' Twitter account has enraged Muslims and prompted 15 lawyers to file a lawsuit against him for blasphemy and insulting Islam.

Ultraconservative Islamists, known as Salafis, called the cartoon posted by Sawiris a mockery of Islam. They launched an online campaign calling on Muslims in Egypt to boycott Sawiris' mobile-phone company Mobinil.

Sawiris, a Christian Copt who is also a politician, promotes a secular Egypt. He owns media companies and after Egyptian ex-President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11, he launched a political party that calls for separation of state and religion.

After the cartoon posted a few days ago stirred complaints on Twitter, Sawiris tweeted an apology Friday and claimed he was joking.

"I apologize for those who don't take this as a joke; I just thought it was a funny picture; no disrespect meant. I am sorry," he tweeted.

Sawiris' apology wasn't enough to halt the fury and criticism from many Muslims, especially the ultraconservative Salafis, whose lawyers already have sued the billionaire.

A Facebook group launched under the name "We are also joking, Sawiris" gathered no less than 90,000 members in recent days, calling for boycotting products or services sold by any of the businessman's companies, especially the Mobinil mobile-phone company.

"If you're a real Muslim ... boycott his products if you love your religion. We have to cut the tongue of any person who attacks our religion," the group writes.

The Internet campaign coincides with an offline effort by Islamic clerics, who have spoken to Egyptian and Arab media channels to denounce Sawiris' act.

The flap follows recent attacks by radical Muslims against Christian institutions in Cairo, including the May burning of the Virgin Mary Church and ensuing clashes that left 12 people dead and 230 wounded in the poor neighborhood of Imbaba.

Shares of both Mobinil and Sawiris' Orascom Telecom fell on the Egyptian stock exchange Monday before bouncing back Tuesday.

This is the second time Sawiris has indirectly provoked Salafis. The first clash came in 2007, when he said that he was "not against veil, but when he walks in the streets of Egypt, he feels like a stranger" because of the growing number of veiled women.

Sawiris recently helped start the Free Egyptians political party, announcing that he would give up his role as executive chairman of Orascom Telecom Holding to focus on political and social work.

The current row, however, might dent his party's chances in upcoming parliamentary elections, as Salafis and Islamic clerics have a notable influence on the votes of many Egyptians who base their perspectives according to religious convictions rather than political directions.

Also yesterday, Egyptian security forces firing tear gas clashed with around 5,000 rock-throwing protesters in central Cairo late Tuesday. Dozens were injured as the security forces battled to regain control of Tahrir Square from the demonstrators, many of them family members of the more than 850 people killed during the revolution.

The families are frustrated with what they perceive as the slow prosecution of security officers.

Tuesday's clashes, the most serious between security forces and protesters since the revolution, are a sign of the tumultuous transitional period the country is going through as it struggles to shift from an authoritarian to democratic system.

That transition took a step forward earlier Tuesday with an Egyptian court's ordering the dissolution of more than 1,750 municipal councils, seen as one of the last vestiges of Mubarak's rule.

Additional information from The Associated Press

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