Posted on 02/15/2006 2:16:07 AM PST by Cornpone
Peshawar - Protesters ransacked outlets of a Norwegian phone firm, a United States fast food restaurant and banks in northern Pakistan on Wednesday in fresh violence sparked by cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in European newspapers.
Police fired tear gas in the towns of Peshawar, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in North West Frontier Province to disperse angry crowds, a day after two people were killed in protests in the eastern city of Lahore, witnesses said.
Police said at least one policeman was wounded in an exchange of fire between police and protesters in Tank, which is close to a tribal region bordering Afghanistan troubled by battles between security forces and al Qaeda-linked militants.
Protesters in Peshawar attacked two franchises of the Norwegian mobile telephone firm Telenor and also ransacked an outlet of US fast food chain KFC, witnesses said.
The protests in the towns involved groups of several hundred protesters. Several thousand took part in all.
In Tank, protesters also torched music shops and internet cafes and local police chief Attiqullah, who uses only one name, blamed supporters of Afghanistan's Taliban for the violence.
"The protest was proceeding peacefully before armed supporters of the Taliban penetrated and started firing at the police and burning music shops," he told Reuters.
The protests in NWFP, which is ruled by an Islamist coalition, came a day after neighbouring Punjab province banned street protests after violence in its capital Lahore.
At least two people were shot dead by security guards of a bank that came under attack in Lahore on Tuesday and police arrested more than 250 young protesters after mobs set to fire to two U.S. food franchises, banks and dozens of cars.
Diplomatic Enclave Stormed
On Tuesday, hundreds of mainly high school students stormed into the closely guarded diplomatic enclave in the capital Islamabad, forcing police to fire tear gas to disperse them.
The protests have been the most serious in Pakistan - the second-most populous Muslim nation - since European newspapers republished cartoons of the Prophet that first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten last September.
Many Muslims believe it is blasphemous to depict the Prophet.
In Lahore, protesters attacked both the cartoons and plans by US President George W Bush to visit Pakistan in early March. Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi announced a province-wide ban on marches, and warned that violators faced "an iron hand".
Sub-human vermin meet expectations, again.
Daily demonstrations of the tolerance and diversity of the religion of peace.
Yep, makes sense to me.
Muslims and their religion of peace...coming soon to a place close to you and yours.
Amazing how things have changed in the last few years. Ten years ago I couldn't have told anyone about Islam...didn't have a clue about it. This has become a scary time for some of us Christians.
Meanwhile, would I travel abroad? When pigs fly. I would love to visit the middle east, but my white European/American look would stand out like...pigs flying!
"Yep, makes sense to me."
To understand the concept you have to have a clear grasp of the way these things balance out.
Religion of Peace bump
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