Protesters: We'll join al-Qaeda
2006-02-20 19:30
Jalalabad - Hundreds of Afghans shouted support on Monday for Osama bin Laden and
threatened to join al-Qaeda during a protest against cartoons of
the Prophet Muhammad, while Pakistan Islamists vowed to broaden
their campaign.
In an attempt to cool the controversy, Pope Benedict said
the world's religions and their symbols had to be respected.
The student protest against the cartoons in the eastern
Afghan city of Jalalabad passed peacefully in contrast to a
weekend of deadly rioting in several countries, including
Nigeria, where 28 people were killed, and Libya where 11 died.
Two weeks ago in Afghanistan, at least 10 people were killed
in several days of protests over the cartoons but the
demonstrations largely petered out after that.
On Monday, students gathered in the campus of the university
in Jalalabad chanting "Death to Denmark", "Death to America" and
"Death to France", a witness said.
They also chanted "Death to Karzai" and demanded President
Hamid Karzai close the embassies of Denmark, the United States
and France and expel their forces from Afghanistan.
"If they abuse the Prophet of Islam again we will all become
al-Qaeda," the students shouted.
Cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper last year and
reprinted in European papers have sparked worldwide protests by
Muslims who believe it is blasphemous to depict the Prophet.
In the deadliest protests, at least 28 people died in riots
in two Muslim states in northern Nigeria at the weekend.
A Red Cross official said on Monday the death toll from the
riots in Maiduguri, where 21 people were killed, could rise
further as some of the 207 people hurt were in critical
condition.
Troops patrolled the capital of the northeastern
state of Borno to prevent further violence.
About a dozen churches, 200 shops, 50 houses and 100
vehicles were razed or vandalised by protesters in Maiduguri who
ran wild after police fired teargas to disperse them.
More Pakistan protests
Pakistan's main Islamist alliance, the Muttahida
Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), said on Monday it would broaden its
campaign.
Five people died in protests in Pakistan last week.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, president of the MMA, was held under
house arrest in Lahore at the weekend to prevent him leading a
rally in the capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Last week, a Pakistani Muslim cleric and his followers
offered rewards amounting to over $1m for anyone who
killed Danish cartoonists who drew the Prophet caricatures.
Denmark and Norway on Monday condemned the bounty.
"It's
murder and murder is also forbidden by the Qur'an," said Danish
foreign minister Per Stig Moeller.
Iran, where protesters have thrown stones, firecrackers and
petrol bombs at Western embassies, denied US accusations that
it has deliberately stoked Muslim anger at the cartoons.
"We do not support any violence," foreign minister
Manouchehr Mottaki said in Brussels.
"We have to try our best to avoid any violence and this is
what we are doing in Iran.
"So many of our police were attacked
by angry people in the streets," Mottaki said.
- Reuters