Copenhagen’s Royal Library is planning to exhibit the dreaded Danish cartoons of blasphemy.

Well, sort of. They’ll be unavailable to the public, like a rare book or something extremely dangerous.

Denmark’s Royal Library is risking the wrath of Muslims with plans to display controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that sparked violent protest throughout the Islamic world two years ago.

The 12 caricatures of Islam’s founder were published in Danish newspapers in September 2005 triggering riots and violence which claimed the lives of over 50 people.

Copenhagen’s Royal Library – founded by King Frederik III in 17th century – is courting a new controversy by classifying the cartoons as “historic” objects alongside other Danish treasures, such as original manuscripts by Martin Luther. “We hope we can secure all of the works to preserve them for the future. The caricatures have become a part of Danish history,” Royal Library spokesperson Jytte Kjaergaard told the UK’s Art Newspaper. But the images are likely to remain locked away from the public gaze.

”We are not interested in an exhibition, we are interested in them being kept safe for future generations,” the Royal Library spokeswoman said. “This is the obvious place to keep them because we have all the security measures in place. It would be very difficult for a private person to come in and sabotage them because to see them for research purposes you will need a letter of consent from your university professor. They will be treated like any rare book.”

Danish Muslims are bitter and upset, and feel slighted. All those riots and killings and threats, and Denmark still wouldn’t cave in. Waaah.

Kasem Said Ahmad, a spokesman for the Danish Muslim Society, which led the campaign against the cartoons said: “We will not be holding any demonstrations as we got nothing from the Danish courts when we tried to sue the newspapers. We will ignore all provocations in future.”

Uh huh. We’ll see how long that promise lasts.

UPDATE at 1/30/08 8:51:23 am:

If you can’t fly to Denmark with a note from your university professor, remember that you can always view these historic objects at LGF. Behold, the dreaded cartoons of blasphemy.