Muslims rally to protest drawings

TENS of thousands of Muslims around the world demonstrated against the drawings of the Prophet Mohammed after Friday prayers, some shouting anti-American slogans and burning Danish flags.

Rallies in Asia were the largest on the continent since demonstrations throughout the Muslim world erupted over the drawings first published in a Danish newspaper in September and recently reprinted in other European publications. One depicted the prophet with a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse.

In Kenya, police shot and wounded one person as they sought to keep hundreds of demonstrators from marching to the residence of Denmark's ambassador.

In Pakistan, rallies erupted after prayers with some protesters burning foreign-made cheese and breaking windows while others clashed with police. The largest gathering was in the capital Islamabad, where 5,000 supporters of radical Islamic groups demonstrated peacefully.

Thousands demonstrated in Malaysia, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, while smaller rallies were held in Indonesia and the Philippines. Some protested outside mosques while others marched on the diplomatic missions of Denmark.

In Egypt, some protestors clashed with police who tried to disperse them with water cannons and tear gas. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza protested, some firing rifles in the air while others burned Danish flags.

The editor of a small Christian newspaper in Norway - the second to publish the drawings - apologised yesterday for offending Muslims. Magazinet editor Vebjoern Selbekk said he failed to foresee the pain and anger the drawings would cause Muslims.

Many Muslims considered the caricatures offensive to Islam, which is interpreted to bar images of the revered prophet. The Danish newspaper that first published the drawings has apologised for causing Muslims any offence but the Danish Government has said it cannot apologise for something done by its free press.

In Pakistan, Mian Aslam, a leader of a coalition of Islamic groups, delivered a fiery speech urging Pakistan to sever ties with any country where the drawings were published.

Israeli police in Jerusalem tried to prevent protests by barring all men under the age of 45 from attending Friday prayers at the Al Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City, Islam's third-holiest site. Despite the efforts, about 2,000 women, young boys and older men marched around the Dome of the Rock shrine chanting "Bin Laden, strike again".

In India, thousands kicked, spat on and tore Danish flags and burned effigies in the capital New Delhi and the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.