CAIRO - Senior Egyptian religious officials Friday slammed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's honouring this week of a Danish cartoonist who offended many Muslims with his drawings of the prophet Mohammed. One official at Al-Azhar, a pre-eminent institute of Sunni Muslim thought, told Al-Masry Al-Youm daily said Merkel struck an 'imbalance' when she condemned burning the Qur'an but praised the cartoonist. Abdel Muti Bayoumi, a controversial member of the body at Al-Azhar responsible for issuing religious decrees, or fatwas, also said that honouring the 75-year-old Danish cartoonist was part of a 'two-faced' European approach to Muslims. Merkel handed out the press freedom award - which carried no cash prize - on Wednesday in Potsdam, outside the German capital Berlin. 'It is about whether or not he can publish his cartoons, yes or no,' Merkel said about Westergaard at the event. 'Whether they are necessary or helpful or tasteful or not doesn't matter. Is he allowed to do it? Yes, he is,' the chancellor added. Another member of the Islamic Research Academy at Al-Azhar in Cairo, Mohamed Othman, said Merkel's participation in the M100 Prize ceremony would fuel feelings of resentment among Muslims.