”In the spirit of (holiday) Eid al Adh-ha and Christmas, Imam Syed Soharwardy has decided to withdraw his complaint from the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Commission in Ottawa,” the group stated in a press release.

The complaints lodged by the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada against the Western Standard were filed last week.  Imam Syed Soharwardy’s group filed with the federal and Alberta Human Rights Commission and the federal HRC.

The original Dec. 2 posting that sparked the user comments was written by former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant. He was discussing complaints by the Canadian Islamic Congress against Maclean’s magazine.

It’s the anonymous responses to Levant’s posting that angered Muslim leaders.

Levant, who no longer owns the website or the Western Standard name, said he doesn’t personally agree with the comments, but argued they should be protected as free speech.

The Islamic group wants Calgary police to continue to pursue commenters. The Western Standard folded in October and it’s blog is now being run by former employees.
More at The Shotgun.

Original complaint and The Western Standard response (.pdf)
Levant has started his own blog.