Man convicted of incitement over cartoon

A British Muslim who led an angry crowd in chants of "Bomb, bomb, Denmark, bomb, bomb USA" during protests of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad was found guilty Friday of incitement to murder.

Umran Javed, 27, was one of the leaders of a Feb. 3 rally held outside the Danish Embassy in London, prosecutor David Perry said.

Javed, who was also convicted of racial incitement, was caught after police videotaped him speaking into a loudspeaker at the protest, which drew about 200-300 people.

Javed acknowledged the words, but told the jury he was disappointed with himself and had been caught up in the emotion of the moment.

"They were just slogans, soundbites," he testified.

In November, another protester was convicted of stirring up racial hatred at the same demonstration. Mizanur Rahman, 23, was also accused of inciting murder, but the jury deadlocked on that count.

British public opinion was outraged after television stations broadcast images of the protesters carrying placards with slogans such as "Europe, your 9/11 will come," "behead the one who insults the prophet," and "be prepared for the real Holocaust."

The protests followed the publication, in Danish and other European newspapers, of cartoons that depicted the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban, clutching a dagger, or berating a group of suicide bombers.

Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the prophet for fear it could lead to idolatry.

The cartoons triggered Muslim protests from Morocco to Indonesia and in some cases attacks on Danish embassies. Protesters were killed in Libya and Afghanistan.