Update to this story.

(NBC) — Islamic hardliners in Egypt are calling for the severed tongue of a Christian telecom mogul who posted a Muslim-ized Mickey Minnie Mouse online.

Nasguib Sawiris, founder of Mobinil and a prominent promoter of a secular Egypt, tweeted an apology for an online cartoon that showed Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie Mouse in a face veil.

“I apologize for those who don’t take this as a joke; I just thought it was a funny picture; no disrespect meant. I am sorry,” he tweeted.

But hardliners started Facebook groups attacking Sawiris, and others have filed lawsuits accusing him of religious contempt, according to The Associated Press.

“If you are really a Muslim, and you love your religion, boycott his projects,” said a message from a Facebook group called We are Joking Sawiris. “We have to cut out the tongue of any person who attacks our religion.”