New protests erupt in cartoon row (Reuters) Updated: 2006-02-07 07:07
Enraged Muslims again took to the streets. A 14-year-old boy was shot dead by
police when a protest in northeastern Somalia turned violent on Monday,
residents and hospital sources said.
In Afghanistan, one protester was killed in clashes with police. Another
person died at the weekend when flames forced him to jump from the burning
Danish consulate in Beirut.
Lebanese Islamists attack a police vehicle in
Beirut February 5, 2006. [Reuters] |
In Algiers, Islamists burned Danish and U.S. flags during a rare sit-in
protest by about 2,000 people held under the watchful eyes of plain-clothed
policemen on Monday.
Ukraine became the latest country where papers published the cartoons,
joining Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary,
New Zealand, Poland, the United States, Japan, Norway, Malaysia and Australia,
Jordan and Yemen.
Yemen closed down a small weekly and ordered its editor held on Monday for
reprinting the cartoons, Saba news agency said.
Annan, on a visit to Dubai, appealed for calm.
"I urge all who have authority or influence in different communities ... to
engage in dialogue and build a true alliance of civilizations, founded on mutual
respect," he said.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy also called on Arab countries
"to talk with moderation" about the cartoons.
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The leader of al Muhajiroon, an Islamist group banned in Britain, called for
executing those who insult the Prophet.
"In Islam, God said, and the messenger Mohammad said, whoever insults a
prophet, he must be punished and executed," Omar Bakri Mohammad told BBC radio
by telephone from Beirut.
Britain issued a stern warning after some protesters marched in London with
placards threatening beheadings and bloodshed.
"The attacks on the citizens of Denmark and the people of other European
countries are completely unacceptable," it said in a statement.
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