Two policemen were killed in clashes in Pakistan and police fired water cannons on protesters in Indonesia as Muslim anger against US and British strikes on Afghanistan continue.
Two policemen were shot dead in Karachi by unidentified gunmen overnight, police said, as Pakistan prepared for another day of protest ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell.
A coalition of religious parties has called for a nationwide general strike in protest Mr Powell’s visit, which it has described as adding "insult to injury".
In Indonesia, police fired tear gas, water and blank warning shots to disperse a crowd of anti-US protesters outside the parliament in Jakarta, witnesses said.
About 200 protesters from four radical Islamic groups had gathered outside the parliament's gates to condemn the US air attacks on Afghanistan. Police opened fire when the peaceful protesters rejected an order to disperse.
"Today is a public holiday and they are well aware that no demonstrations are allowed on a public holiday," said Jakarta police chief Insp Gen Sofyan Jacoeb.
In Pakistan, police said assailants on a motorbike had opened fire on two policemen stationed outside a mosque in a downtown area of Karachi as part of preventive security measures ahead of Monday's expected protests.
"It is a terrorist attack as the assailants also took away rifles of the two victims after killing them," a police spokesman said.
AFP