Doesn't sound like it is going to calm down any time soon... shields up - take care guys!
muffin
Updated Thu. Feb. 9 2006 1:01 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
There is no end in sight to Muslim outrage over the publishing of inflammatory depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims held a peaceful protest Thursday in Beirut. The protest came out of a Shiite festival of Ashoura, which marks the death of the Prophet's grandson, Imam Hussein, killed in Karbala in Iraq 1,300 years ago.
At that rally, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah urged Muslims worldwide to continue demonstrating until a full apology is offered and Europe passes laws forbidding insults of the Prophet.
"Defending the prophet should continue all over the world. Let (U.S. Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice and (President George W.) Bush and all the tyrants shut up. We are an Islamic nation that cannot tolerate, be silent or be lax when they insult our Prophet and sanctities.''\
"We will uphold the messenger of God not only by our voices but also by our blood,'' he told the crowds, estimated by organizers at about 700,000.
His comments come after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran and Syria of inciting violence in their countries, and U.S. President George Bush called on governments to stop the violence.
Iran has rejected the U.S. accusations. Syria has not commented.
Meanwhile, Denmark has temporarily closed its mission in Beirut, after protesters burned it on Sunday. All the staff has now left Lebanon.
The cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper and more recently reprinted across Europe and other parts of the world, including Canada, have incensed Muslims and led to violent protests in which at least 11 people have been killed.
Western media insist they are exercising their right to free speech by publishing the cartoons -- including one depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb.
Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of the prophet.
Despite the violence, Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons, said it stands by its decision to print them. However, it did apologize last week for offending Muslims.
Protesters have attacked embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran, and have rioted in Afghanistan.
On Wednesday, four people were killed in the Afghan city of Qalat, after protesters marched on a U.S. military base. Angry Muslims are directing their anger against America, not Europe.
Aside from Beirut, protests were also held Thursday in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, where demonstrators burned a Danish flag. In Srinigar, the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, protesters chanted "Down with Denmark" and "Down with Israel."
The controversy came to Canada this week after the cartoons were published in The Cadre, the student paper at the University of Prince Edward Island. However, university administration promptly ordered the papers taken off the stands.
Also, Peter March, a professor at St. Mary's University in Halifax, has upset some, after he said he would post the cartoons in his classroom to make a point about freedom of expression.
Muslim students upset by that decision rallied today in Halifax. They say the cartoons show a lack of respect for the Islamic faith.
Meanwhile, police are investigating acts of vandalism at two Islamic mosques north of Montreal they believe could be connected to the cartoon controversy.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060209/cartoon_protests_060209/20060209?hub=TopStories
