Prague, Czech Republic: Several dozen posters containing a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad turned up on the streets of the Czech Republic s second largest city, and the government condemned them today.

"This is sheer mockery. Such posters are for me ... A sign of the intolerance and aggressiveness of those who devised them," Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said.

In a statement, the ministry condemned all actions aimed at inciting religious, racial or ethnic hatred.

The drawing is one of 12 cartoons published in a Danish newspaper that enraged many Muslims in early 2006,sparking deadly riots around the world.

In downtown Brno, 200 kilometres southeast of Prague, the posters turned up early today, and apparently had been hung up the night before. They reportedly were signed by an unknown group named Friends of Freedom of Speech.

Brno s Islamic community did not plan protests, said Muneeb Hassan Alrawi, head of the Islamic Foundation, which is in charge of the local mosque.

Alrawi called the posters "deplorable" and said they were meant "to provoke Muslims."

"We don t plan to make them happy by protesting," Alrawi said of the people behind the posters.

Source : PTI