The New York Times reported that in early December, Danish Imam and political activist Ahmed Akkari led a delegation of the European Committee for Honoring the Prophet to meet with prominent Egyptian Arab leaders.
The delegation presented the Egyptians with a dossier that included the 12 Jyllands-Posten cartoons and three additional offensive cartoons.
One of the people with whom Akkari met was Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who brought the dossier and showed it at an international Muslim summit that took place in Mecca in early December.
This, in conjunction with subsequent delegations from Europe, precipitated the spread of a larger controversy over the cartoons.
At least 40 people have been killed in protests in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and Nigeria, as of Feb. 18, and Danish embassies in Lebanon, Syria, Iran have been attacked.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Middle Eastern countries also formed an economic boycott against Denmark, which exports a fair volume of dairy products to the Middle East.
