From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Tue Feb 07 2006 - 13:05:27 EST
AFGHAN PROTESTS, CONDEMNATIONS CONTINUE OVER CARICATURES OF PROPHET
The Afghan National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution on 4 February calling the recent publication by a Danish and other newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad a "grave crime and an act of treachery," Pajhwak reported. On 5 February, Afghanistan's chief justice, Mawlawi Fazl Hadi Shinwari, told "Muslims of Afghanistan and the world" that it is "haram [forbidden] to buy Danish products," AIP reported. Shinwari said the Afghan government should break off "diplomatic, trade, economic, and military relations" with Denmark and reject any aid from that country. More than 1,000 protesters in the northern Konduz Province on 4 February demanded the withdrawal of Danish troops and the Danish ambassador from Afghanistan, in addition to shouting slogans condemning Denmark, Israel, and the United States. Nearly 1,000 people turned up on 5 February in Mehtarlam, the provincial capital of the eastern Afghan province of Laghman, to denounce Denmark, AFP reported. One person was killed and four others wounded
, including policemen, when police opened fire on stone-throwing protesters on the second day of demonstrations in Mehtarlam on 6 February, international agencies reported. Protesters called on the Afghan government to demand the withdrawal of Danish forces, which are in Afghanistan as part of ISAF. In press release on 2 February, Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the publication of the caricatures, which were initially published by a Danish newspaper and were later reprinted in other European countries, as well as in Malaysia and Australia. AT/AH
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