Cartoon protests escalate in the East

In recent weeks there have been protests around the world–some peaceful, some violent–by Muslims angry over the publication in European newspapers of cartoons satirizing Islam's holiest figure, Prophet Mohammed. More than two weeks after the controversy began, the after-effects are still being felt. Pakistani security forces arrested hundreds of Islamic protesters, virtually sealed off the capital and used gunfire and tear gas on Feb. 19 to quell protests against the caricatures of Mohammed. Authorities declared they would arrest anyone joining a gathering of more than five people. Pakistan had banned protests after riots killed five people in two cities last week. In the city of Lahore, thousands of demonstrators ransacked symbols of Western globalization such as McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets, and destroyed the offices of a Norwegian telecoms company. Businesses closed and the city was paralyzed as rioters damaged at least 200 cars and a large portrait of the president, General Pervez Musharraf, who some denounced as a traitor. Rashid Hafiz, 22, handed out salt to protesters whose mouths were stinging from the tear gas. "The US and its allies are the terrorists of this world. Inshallah, we will crush them," he said. Elsewhere in the Muslim world that day, 400 demonstrators with wooden staves and stones tried unsuccessfully to storm the US Embassy in Indonesia, while tens of thousands rallied in the Turkish city of Istanbul and complained about negative Western perceptions of Islam. In Jakarta, the protesters set fire to US flags and a poster of President Bush, and smashed the windows of a guard outpost before dispersing after a few minutes. Troops patrolled the deserted streets of the northern Nigerian town of Maiduguri, where thousands of Muslims attacked Christians and burned 11 churches the day before, killing at least 16 people during a protest over the cartoons. Most of the victims were beaten to death by rioters. Nigerian police raided offices and homes of dozens of radical leaders, putting several under house arrest and detaining hundreds of their associates. The latest violence erupted as the Danish cartoonist whose drawings originally sparked the furor, Kurt Westergaard, used an interview with a British newspaper to defend the right to a free press–and said the Islamic faith provided "spiritual ammunition" for terrorism. Boycotts of Danish products throughout the Muslim world have taken a heavy toll on Denmark's exporters, especially those selling Denmark's famed dairy products. The cartoons, which have been reprinted by other Western publications, have outraged Muslims. But protests over the past three weeks have grown into a broader anger against the West in general, and Israel and the United States in particular. Demonstrations have turned increasingly violent and claimed at least 45 lives worldwide, including 11 in Afghanistan during a three-day span two weeks ago and 10 on Feb. 17 in the Libyan coastal city of Benghazi. The Libyan riot of at least 1,000 demonstrators outside the Italian consulate apparently was sparked by a right-wing Italian Cabinet minister who wore a T-shirt bearing the most controversial cartoon–a caricature of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. Libya's interior minister was promptly suspended for "an excessive use of force" against the protesters. Meanwhile, in Tanzania 10,000 people took part in a peaceful march through the capital Dar es Salaam, while in London, some 10,000 demonstrators marched in what was the largest of several protests there so far. There have also been demonstrations in Lebanon, India, and several other Muslim countries.