PAKISTAN / IRAQ: Pakistanis and Iraqis torch Danish flag over Prophet Mohammad cartoon reprints

Record ID: 1538217

  • Title: PAKISTAN / IRAQ: Pakistanis and Iraqis torch Danish flag over Prophet Mohammad cartoon reprints
  • Date: 22nd February 2008
  • Summary: (BN10) ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (FEBRUARY 22, 2008) (REUTERS) WIDE OF PROTESTERS ASSEMBLING IN FRONT OF FAISAL MOSQUE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING: 'JIHAD! JIHAD!' PROTESTERS CHANTING: 'GOD IS GREATEST' PROTESTERS CHANTING: 'WE ARE READY TO DIE FOR THE HOLY PROPHET' BANNER READING (in English): 'SEND BACK THE DENMARK AMBASSADOR' PROTESTERS HOLDING EFFIGY DRAPED WITH DANISH FLAG PROTESTERS MARCHING VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING AND CHANTING: 'JIHAD!' SECURITY (SOUNDBITE) (English/Urdu) UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT OF ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "We are the students of one of the most prominent universities, a university of the Islamic world that has raised the flag of Islamic renaissance. So at the very least we cannot tolerate such blasphemy." PROTESTERS STAMPING ON DANISH FLAG VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BURNING DANISH FLAG
  • Embargoed: 8th March 2008 09:46
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA4VRCJSO6K9MAK8S7OT1RIEC1K
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The decision to reprint satirical cartoons of the prophet Mohammad in Denmark sparked protests in Pakistan and Iraq on Friday (February 22).
    Chanting 'Jihad' and 'We are ready to die for the prophet Mohammad', scores of students from the Islamic University took to the streets of Islamabad on Friday.
    The protesters burnt Danish flags and called for the expulsion of the Danish ambassador to Pakistan.

    "We are the students of one of the most prominent universities, a university of the Islamic world that has raised the flag of Islamic renaissance. So at the very least we cannot tolerate such blasphemy," one protester told Reuters.
    Similar protests were held in Karachi by up to 50 members of the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, an anti-government Islamist party.
    The cartoons, first published by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, sparked protests and riots around the world in 2006, in which more than 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies attacked.
    Most Muslims consider depiction of the Prophet Mohammad offensive.
    The image reprinted on February 13 depicts the Prophet with a bomb in his turban.
    Iraqis also expressed their outrage in the Kadhimiya district of northern Baghdad on Friday. Some four thousand people rallied, condemning the cartoons and urging action against Denmark.
    Protesters burned a Danish flag without its cross, a sign of respect for Christianity said Hazim al-Araji, a leading member of Muqtada al-Sadr's Shiite movement, in his Friday sermon.
    A similar protest was staged in the Muslim holy city of Najaf following Friday's prayer.
    Danish newspapers said they reprinted a cartoon showing the Prophet with a bomb in his turban in protest over a plot to murder one of the cartoonists, 73-year-old Kurt Westergaard.
    In the last few days, Danish lawmakers have cancelled a trip to Iran, the Egyptian government has protested to the Danish ambassador in Cairo and Indonesian Muslims have demonstrated outside the Danish Embassy in Jakarta over the cartoons.
    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reaffirmed his predecessor's line on cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday (February 20), saying free speech should respect religious sensitivities.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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