A French satirical weekly has increased anger in the Muslim world by reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that Muslims regard as blasphemous.
The weekly, Charlie-Hebdo, also published a new cartoon of its own on its front page depicting the Prophet Muhammad burying his face in his hands and saying: "It's hard to be loved by fools".
French Muslim organisations tried to prevent the weekly from reprinting the 12 original cartoons, which were first published by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten.A French court rejected their suit last night on a technicality.
Meanwhile, protests are continuing around the world against the publication of the cartoons. The United Nations, the world's largest Islamic grouping and the European Union have all appealed for calm.
Danish Prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
The leader of the Organisation of Islamic Conference joined UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and the EU's foreign policy chief in condemning the violence and appealing for calm. "Aggression against life and property can only damage the image of a peaceful Islam," said a statement by Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of the OIC, Mr Annan and the EU's Javier Solana.
But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused US adversaries Iran and Syria today of inciting Muslim anger against the West.
Earlier President George W. Bush said governments should stop the violence that has erupted over the cartoons, including attacks on Western embassies in parts of the Muslim world. At least 10 people have been killed in protests in Afghanistan alone.
Tens of thousands of Muslims have demonstrated in the Middle East, Asia and Africa over the drawings, which have appeared in publications in Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Fiji, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, Ukraine and Yemen.
This morning, Afghan police fired at a crowd of 600 people trying to storm a US military base in Qalat, killing three and wounding 20. A total of ten Afghans have died in the demonstrations this week.
Senior Afghan officials said al-Qaeda and the Taliban could be exploiting anger over the cartoons to incite violence, which spread to at least six cities in Afghanistan yesterday.
Protests also continued today in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the West Bank.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia - seen as the most religiously influential countries throughout the Arab world with large Sunni Muslim population - have not witnessed violent protests.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen accused "radicals, extremists and fanatics" of stirring up Muslim wrath to "push forward their own agenda". He repeated his call for dialogue with Muslims. "We're facing a growing global crisis that has the potential to escalate beyond the control of governments and other authorities," he said.
The 12 Muhammed drawings - including one depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb - have touched a raw nerve. Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of the prophet for fear they could lead to idolatry. The 12 cartoonists were reported to be in hiding under police guard.
Media outlets say they have reprinted them sometimes to illustrate stories about the controversy but also, in some cases, to support the principle of free speech.
Iran's best-selling newspaper yesterday launched a competition to find the best Holocaust cartoon, claiming it was intended as a test of the West's tolerance of free speech.