Pakistanis protest prophet drawings

Hundreds of Pakistanis protested Friday against the reprinting of Prophet Muhammad caricatures in Denmark, setting fire to Danish flags and demanding the ambassador's expulsion.

Chanting slogans "We condemn blasphemy of Muhammad!" and "Send back Danish ambassador," about 200 students demonstrated at the International Islamic University in Islamabad.

"We are even ready to sacrifice our life for our beloved Prophet," said Mahmood Sadiqui, a student leader.

Denmark's leading newspapers this week reprinted drawings of Islam's prophet in a gesture of solidarity after Danish police said they uncovered a plot to kill one of the artists.

The drawings originally appeared in Western newspapers in early 2006, sparking deadly riots across the Islamic world.

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry. In Pakistan, blasphemy of Muhammad carries death sentence.

About 200 people protested in Multan, a main city in the eastern Punjab province, burning Danish flags and chanting "Death to the Cartoonist!" and "Boycott, boycott of European products!"

At two similar demonstration in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi, about 150 supporters from radical Islamic parties torched effigies of the Danish prime minister.

"We demand the rulers to sever diplomatic ties" with Denmark, said Mohammad Imran, a student leader from Islami Jamiat Talba, a student organization linked with Pakistan's largest Islamic political group, Jamaat-e-Islami.

"The cartoonist and publisher must be hanged," he said.

In was the second protest in Karachi in as many days. Dozens of Islamic students set fire to a Danish flag on Thursday.

In Denmark, youths have rioted for five straight nights, mostly in immigrant neighborhoods, though police said they were not sure what triggered the unrest.

Some observers said immigrant youths were protesting against perceived police harassment, and suggested the republishing of the caricatures may have aggravated the situation.

Nine people were arrested Friday after another night in which youths set fire to cars and trash cans and hurled rocks at police.

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Associated Press Writer Ashraf Khan from Karachi and Khalid Tanveer from Multan contributed to this story.