Cartoon protests in Pakistan leave 3 dead (AP) Updated: 2006-02-15 19:02
In the eastern city of Lahore, fighting flared up for the second straight
day. A 30-year-old man was shot dead in a clash with police as about 1,500
students staged a rally outside a university, hospital and police officials
said.
Pakistani children stand in front of a
Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant which was set on fire by angry mobs
protesting against the publication of cartoons depicting Islamic Prophet
Muhammad, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006 in Peshawar, Pakistan. Gunfire and
rioting erupted as tens of thousands protesters took to the streets during
the country's third consecutive day of violent protests.
[AP] |
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters went on a rampage in Lahore, burning
Western businesses including McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants. Two
people died and police detained 125 people, a police official said on condition
of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Violent protests also erupted Tuesday in the capital, Islamabad. More than
1,000 students forced their way into a heavily guarded enclave housing foreign
embassies. They damaged cars and a bank building, but were quickly expelled from
the area with tear gas and water cannons.
Elsewhere in Asia, hundreds of Muslim protesters ripped apart and burned
Danish flags Wednesday in a rally at the Danish honorary consulate in Manila,
the Philippines.
In Muslim-majority Malaysia, the government ordered Guang Ming, the country's
third largest Chinese-language newspaper, to halt publication of its evening
edition for two weeks as punishment for printing a photograph in which the
cartoons were visible.
Indonesia's importers association also announced a boycott of Danish goods
until the Danish government apologizes for the cartoons.
Denmark's government has refused to apologize, saying it has no influence
over its independent media. Numerous countries in the Middle East have called
for a boycott of Danish goods, costing Danish businesses more than $1 million a
day, analysts and companies said last week.
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