[1] Cartoon rage continues to roil, making it increasingly clear that this is a challenge over nothing less than whether free societies will remain free. From [2] AP, with thanks to all who sent this in:

Riyadh — Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Denmark on Thursday to protest against a published series of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad, which provoked a wave of anger in Islamic countries when they were published last year in a leading Danish newspaper.

Ambassador Mohammad Ibrahim Al-Hejailan had been posted to Denmark since March 2003. Embassy officials did not answer phone calls Thursday afternoon.

The 12 drawings published Sept. 30, 2005 by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten included one showing Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Another portrayed him with a bushy grey beard and holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle. A third pictured a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick in front of a donkey and a sunset.

Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern such images could lead to idolatry.