ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 8 - Syria And Iran Accused Over Cartoons Strife.

The US accuses Syria and Iran of inciting violence among Muslims over caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that were first published in a Danish newspaper and which have sparked protests across the world. It also implicitly urged newspapers not to republish the cartoons. Three more people were killed on Feb 8 in Afghanistan in fresh protests against the cartoons, which have now been published widely in the west. Afghan police opened fire on demonstrators in the southern town of Qalat, where some tried to attack a US military base. About 10 Afghans have been killed in protests this week. Pres Bush and King Abdullah of Jordan discussed the spreading crisis in Washington. Bush told reporters that the US welcomed people of all faiths but also believed in the freedom of the press. Bush called on "governments around the world to stop the violence", respect property and protect diplomats. He urged the media to "be thoughtful of others". Many US newspapers have decided not to publis

h the cartoons, with the exception of at least two: the Philadephia Inquirer and the New York Sun. While the Bush administration insists it does not tell editors what to publish, it has in effect urged the US media not to run the cartoons, one of which depicts the Prophet with a bomb like a turban. State Sec Condoleezza Rice, singled out Syria and Iran, accusing them of using this opportunity to "incite violence". Nordic and other embassies have been attacked in Damascus and Tehran. "I don't have any doubt that given the control of the Syrian government in Syria, given the control of the Iranian government - which, by the way, hasn't even hidden its hand in this - that Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiment and to use this to their own purposes, and the world ought to call them on it", Rice said. US officials have called the cartoons "unacceptable" and "offensive". In France, the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo reprinted cartoons of the Prophet and published one of its own. Pres Jacques Chirac condemned "overt provocations" that could inflame passions. Afghanistan's top religious council called for an end to the protests, saying people would use the disturbances for purposes of sabotage. In Indonesia government officials and religious leaders urged calm. The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, plans to travel to Arab and Muslim countries in an attempt to calm the anger.