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More anger, violence over cartoons
NAIROBI - Reuters
Kenyan police opened fire at hundreds demonstrating against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on Friday, wounding at least one person, as protests across the Muslim world showed no sign of abating.
Police in Bangladesh beat back about 10,000 angry protesters marching on the Danish embassy in the capital Dhaka and demonstrators also took to the streets in Afghanistan, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
Kenyan riot police fired live rounds and tear gas to prevent hundreds of stone-throwing protesters from reaching the Danish Embassy. One man was shot in the thigh, a witness said.
In what appeared to be a freak accident, one person was killed when the car carrying the wounded man away crashed into another, said a passenger travelling with the injured man.
Tens of thousands of Muslims have demonstrated in the Middle East, Asia and Africa over the cartoons first published in Denmark, then other countries in Europe and elsewhere. At least 11 people have been killed in the protests.
One cartoon showed the Prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. Muslims consider any portrayal of the Prophet blasphemous, let alone one showing him as a terrorist.
With tensions running high and copies of the cartoons cropping up in newspapers around the world, authorities moved to clamp down on the media and try to calm believers.
Malaysia slapped a blanket ban on circulating or possessing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, police were questioning an editor after his tabloid, Peta, published a caricature of the Prophet.
Meanwhile, the Danish newspaper editor who commissioned the cartoons was sent on holiday after suggesting he would print Iranian cartoons on the Holocaust.
In Turkey, thousands took to the streets across the country after Friday prayers, burning European flags and effigies of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to protest the cartoons. The largest demonstration was held in Istanbul, where some 2,500 people gathered in front of the historic Beyazıt Mosque under a heavy police presence. In an attempt to reduce tension, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sent letters to world leaders urging reconciliation between East and West. “For the sake of global peace ... it has now become essential that statesmen and politicians act with wisdom and common sense and display leadership in taking the joint actions expected from them,” the letter said.
Kenyan police opened fire at hundreds demonstrating against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on Friday, wounding at least one person, as protests across the Muslim world showed no sign of abating.
Police in Bangladesh beat back about 10,000 angry protesters marching on the Danish embassy in the capital Dhaka and demonstrators also took to the streets in Afghanistan, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
Kenyan riot police fired live rounds and tear gas to prevent hundreds of stone-throwing protesters from reaching the Danish Embassy. One man was shot in the thigh, a witness said.
In what appeared to be a freak accident, one person was killed when the car carrying the wounded man away crashed into another, said a passenger travelling with the injured man.
Tens of thousands of Muslims have demonstrated in the Middle East, Asia and Africa over the cartoons first published in Denmark, then other countries in Europe and elsewhere. At least 11 people have been killed in the protests.
One cartoon showed the Prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. Muslims consider any portrayal of the Prophet blasphemous, let alone one showing him as a terrorist.
With tensions running high and copies of the cartoons cropping up in newspapers around the world, authorities moved to clamp down on the media and try to calm believers.
Malaysia slapped a blanket ban on circulating or possessing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, police were questioning an editor after his tabloid, Peta, published a caricature of the Prophet.
Meanwhile, the Danish newspaper editor who commissioned the cartoons was sent on holiday after suggesting he would print Iranian cartoons on the Holocaust.
In Turkey, thousands took to the streets across the country after Friday prayers, burning European flags and effigies of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to protest the cartoons. The largest demonstration was held in Istanbul, where some 2,500 people gathered in front of the historic Beyazıt Mosque under a heavy police presence. In an attempt to reduce tension, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sent letters to world leaders urging reconciliation between East and West. “For the sake of global peace ... it has now become essential that statesmen and politicians act with wisdom and common sense and display leadership in taking the joint actions expected from them,” the letter said.