Emergency moves as violence spreads

THE European Union has demanded that all Islamic states offer adequate protection to European citizens and property in case of further violent demonstrations over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

An emergency meeting of representatives of the 25 member states was called by the Austrian presidency of the EU in Brussels, yesterday, to discuss the burning of offices and embassies in Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian state.

In Vienna, the Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik called in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, representing 57 countries, to express growing EU concern.