Pakistanis defy cartoon rally ban

BBC

Police in the Pakistani capital have used tear gas to disperse people who defied a ban on protests over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.
Hundreds of protesters armed with sticks and stones evaded cordons and roadblocks to rally in Islamabad.

The cartoons, first published in Denmark in September, have angered Muslims across the world. Several people have died in protests.

Islamic tradition prohibits any depiction of Allah or the Prophet.

An all-day curfew has been imposed in Nigeria's north-eastern city of Maiduguri, where 16 people - mainly from the Christian minority - were killed in riots on Saturday.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has condemned the cartoons, which include one portraying the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.


Protests in Pakistan over the last week led to five deaths and prompted the authorities to ban Sunday's demonstration.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad, a senior leader in Pakistan's Islamist opposition alliance, was placed under house arrest before he could travel to Islamabad for the planned march.

Another opposition leader, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, managed to lead a small group of people into the city centre, chanting slogans against the government and its pro-US policies.