Spanish chain pulls T-shirt tags showing mosque

MADRID, Feb 22 (Reuters) A Spanish retailer replaced price tags on its T-shirts at stores around the world after Muslims complained because they showed a mosque and the words ''we slept here''.

Inditex, best known for its Zara stores, apologised for the price tags at its Bershka outlets after an article in the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Bayan criticised the company.

The tags showed a jungle with a mosque in the background. An arrow pointed towards the mosque and a slogan said ''we slept here!!!'' with hearts over the minaret.

Al Bayan said in an article on February 16 that the tags were ''undermining (Islam) by displaying insulting comments'' and by showing a mosque ''as a place for romantic rendezvous instead of a place of worship''.

An editor at the newspaper, which had not named the company in the article, said it had received an apology from Inditex.

An Inditex spokesman said: ''In a few garments we had a price tag with this design. We understood that this design could be misunderstood by some people and, of course, we removed these labels and replaced them with others.'' He did not say how many price tags had been replaced.

Reuters PDS VP0205