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| Supporters of a Pakistani religious party Jamaat-i-Islami rally to protest against caricatures published in French magazine Charlie Hebdo, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. Pakistani students are clashing with police during protests against the French satirical magazine that was attacked last week for publishing images of the Prophet Muhammad. |
KARACHI, Pakistan
(AP) -- Muslim anger flared over a French satirical weekly's latest
caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, with four people reported killed
and dozens injured at a protest Friday in the West African country of
Niger, and violent clashes between demonstrators and police in Pakistan,
Jordan and Algeria.
Supporters say the
cartoon on the cover of Charlie Hebdo is a defiant expression of free
speech following a terrorist attack on the publication's Paris offices
that killed 12 people on Jan. 7, but many Muslims viewed it as another
attack on their religion.
The new issue has a
drawing of Muhammad, with a tear rolling down his cheek and a placard
that reads "Je Suis Charlie" - a saying that has swept France and the
world since the killings. The depiction of the prophet is deemed
insulting to many followers of Islam.
A French
cultural center was set ablaze by protesters in the town of Zinder in
southern Niger, and one security officer and three demonstrators were
killed in the melee, said Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou. Another
20 security officers and 23 civilians were injured, he said.
The government of Niger, a former French colony, has banned the sale of Charlie Hebdo.
Many of the protests across the Muslim world began after midday prayers Friday, Islam's holy day.
Demonstrations were held in the Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore and the capital of Islamabad.
Clashes
erupted in Karachi when protesters started heading toward the French
consulate, throwing stones at police, who pushed them back with water
cannons and tear gas.
Agence France-Presse
photographer Asif Hassan was shot and wounded, said AFP news director
Michele Leridon, although "his life does not seem in danger." AFP said
it was trying to find out whether Hassan was targeted or shot
accidentally.
Three other people, including
two journalists and one police officer, were treated for minor injuries
and released from Jinnah Hospital, said Dr. Seemi Jamali.
Police
officer Naseer Tanoly said some of the protesters were armed and opened
fire on the police, who shot into the air to disperse the crowd. The
protesters were mostly students affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami
political party.
Umair Saeed, an official with
the party's student wing in Karachi, denied the students had weapons
and said the police had opened fire.
About
1,000 people gathered in Islamabad to condemn the French publication.
The demonstrators carried signs that read "Shame on Charlie Hebdo," and
"If you are Charlie, then I am Kouachi" - referring to the brothers
Cherif and Said Kouachi, who were killed after carrying out the attack
on the newspaper office. They had claimed to be sent by al-Qaida in
Yemen.
A second day of protests in Lahore drew about 800 people.
On
Thursday, Pakistani lawmakers passed a resolution against cartoons of
the prophet and marched outside parliament to protest Charlie Hebdo's
latest cover.
The demonstrations overshadowed
smaller rallies in Islamabad and elsewhere to commemorate the Peshawar
school attack one month ago by Taliban gunmen that killed 150 people,
many of them children. Those attending the rallies urged the government
to do more to curb support for militancy and extremism, which many say
have flourished at mosques and religious schools.
In
Washington Friday night, dozens of Muslims primarily from Pakistan
rallied to show solidarity with those demonstrating in Pakistan against
terrorism and commemorating the Peshawar school attack one month ago.
In
a rare protest in the Algerian capital of Algiers, thousands of young
men marched to protest the French satirical newspaper. The demonstrators
threw bottles and rocks at security forces, who responded with tear
gas.
Protesters carried banners saying, "I am
not Charlie, I am Muhammad," and chanted slogans that date back to a
banned Islamist party whose election victory in 1991 precipitated a
civil war.
Some broke through police barriers
and surged toward the parliament building, prompting volleys of tear gas
by police and running street battles. The office of the state airline
was torched.
Police eventually dispersed the
demonstrators by using snow plows and tear gas, according to media
reports. It was not clear how many were arrested or hurt in the unrest.
The
demonstration, which had a degree of official backing when authorities
called for imams to dedicate Friday prayers to the life of the prophet,
was unusual for Algiers, where protests have been banned since 2001.
Clashes
broke out in the Jordanian capital of Amman between security forces and
about 2,000 protesters organized by the Muslim Brotherhood, the
country's largest opposition group. Riot police used batons to disperse
the people as they tried to march to the French Embassy.
The
crowd chanted slogans against Charlie Hebdo and Jordanian officials for
taking part in a unity march in Paris on Sunday. The Jordanian royal
household denounced Charlie Hebdo's latest cover, saying publishing the
cartoon was "irresponsible and far from the essence of freedom of
expression." King Abdullah and Queen Rania, however, took part in the
Paris march in solidarity with the victims of the terror attack.
Also Friday:
- About 160 men in Istanbul said funeral prayers to honor the Kouachi brothers.
-
Several hundred worshippers marched briefly in the Sudanese capital of
Khartoum, demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador.
-
Saudi Arabia's top council of senior clerics said Charlie Hebdo's
latest depiction of the prophet served extremists looking to justify
murder and terrorism.
- Qatar urged Western media "to respect others and their beliefs."
