No, The Editor of Jyllands-Posten is Not Dead


Lies, lies, and more lies. But lies must be stopped. No, Flemming Rose is not dead.

The following message that has been making rounds on the Internet is a product of someone’s perverted fantasy.

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'Danish Editor burnt alive'

The editor of the Danish newspaper ‘Jyllands Posten’ was burnt to death when a fire mysteriously broke out in his bedroom, a Saudi newspaper claims.
According to the newspaper, the editor was sleeping in his bedroom when the fire ravaged his bedroom. He and his newspaper became controversial when it had published blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The paper claims that the Danish govt is trying to cover up the news of the death. He was hit by divine retribution, the paper added. Muslims, all over the world, strongly denounced this blasphemous act and massive protests were held in all Muslim countries including Pakistan. Text messages and emails that claim that the editor or the cartoonist has been burnt alive have also been circulating since Tuesday, lending support to this report. The paper named the editor as Elliot Back. However, Back is merely a senior in Computer Science at Cornell University, who had published the caricatures on his website. Name of the culture editor of Jyllands Posten, who commissioned the caricatures, is Flemming Rose. Jens Julius is the name of one of the cartoonists that drew the images. There were 12 cartoonists in all, who according to the BBC have gone into hiding.– NEWS DESK
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A Saudi newspaper claims!!!
Come on, give me a better reference. Which Saudi newspaper published this rubbish?

In short: No, Flemming Rose is not dead. No, the cultural editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten did not burn to death. If that were the case all major media outlets would have reported Rose’s death; the news would have been on Jylland-Posten’s web site (http://jp.dk/) ; and the Wikipedia entry on ‘Flremming Rose’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemming_Rose) would have been updated.
Please stop spreading lies.

[Flemming Rose photo by John McConnico, for the New York Times.]