Yemeni editor jailed for Muslim cartoons

SANAA, Yemen, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A Yemeni court sentenced an editor to jail and ordered a newspaper shut down for reprinting cartoons depicting Mohammed.

The court sentenced editor Kamal al-Aalafi to a year in jail and ordered the weekly to be closed for six months, the BBC reported. Aalafi said he reprinted the Danish cartoons to raise awareness for Muslims, not insult them.

The cartoons prompted violent protests worldwide when Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published them in 2005. Islamic tradition bars images of Mohammed and other major religious figures. In at least one cartoon, Mohammed was portrayed as a terrorist.

Editors of two other Yemeni publications face similar charges.