Thousands protest at prophet drawings
About 50,000 people, many chanting “Hang those who insulted the prophet”, rallied in a southern Pakistani city to protest at cartoon drawings of the prophet Muhammad.
The protesters carrying signs with Muhammad’s name written on them in Arabic, also chanted the common slogans “Death to America” and “Death to Musharraf”, a reference to President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
Hundreds of riot police lined the mile-long stretch of a road in central Karachi where the rally was held but there was no violence.
A coalition of radical Islamic groups opposed to Musharraf and the US organised the rally, the latest in a series of protests it has held against the cartoons since they first appeared in a newspaper in Denmark and were reprinted in several other European countries.
Some protests in Pakistan have turned deadly and at least five people died in two Pakistani cities in rioting last month.
Islamic tradition bars the depiction of Muhammad, favourable or otherwise, to prevent idolatry.
One of the drawings shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with an ignited fuse.
The Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Forum coalition, which has organised a number of rallies, has often used them to rail against the US and Musharraf.
Radical Islamists oppose Musharraf for his co-operation with the US in the war on terrorism. But Musharraf won praise from US President George W Bush during his visit to Pakistan over the weekend.
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