The teenage boy blocked my way and hissed into my face. "America is a dog. You are all dogs."
In the midst of 500 fired-up Taliban supporters protesting in a bazaar in Peshawar at the threatened United States attack on Afghanistan, I thought it wisest to take my leave.
My best efforts to blend in, wearing the female Muslim attire of loose trousers, a long-sleeved over-dress and a scarf that completely covered my head and neck, failed.
I was not only a woman, but also a foreign journalist. And every foreign journalist in this city is an American as far as this crowd was concerned.
The boy was among a crowd of 500 people who had gathered in the bustling Khyber bazaar for one of hundreds of protests organised by Muslim groups in Pakistan yesterday.
The protests mark a build-up to a nationwide strike called for today.
Pakistan will come to a standstill as shops and businesses close down, transport stops and schools shut while the extreme Muslim community vents its anger at America, and at the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, for his policy of co-operation with the United States.
The Pakistan government is bracing itself for internal upheaval in the coming days and is concerned at the possibility of the eruption of street agitation and sectarian killings.
Protests such as the one yesterday are growing larger with each passing day across cities all over Pakistan.
Yesterday, the government's Regional Information Office circulated a letter to all foreign journalists warning them "as a matter of urgency" not to move about freely in the city due to rising tensions.
Journalists were told to carry travel documents at all times and not to enter tribal areas without permission.
A Japanese TV news crew was detained for several hours after attempting to film a Pakistan defence facility.
The historic Khyber bazaar is one of the main attractions of Peshawar.
One time here you could be regaled with stories by professional storytellers sitting cross-legged outside their shops.
Today you can enjoy refreshment in one of the many tea-shops that adorn the bazaar front, with their large brass saucepans and numerous hanging teapots.
Traders will sell you all sorts of handicraft - engraved embossed jars, jewellery and Persian carpets. Cobblers sit on the pathways making and repairing shoes.
There are food stalls everywhere serving breads and samosas. Rickshaws and horse and carts, known as Tangas, blend with cars and people in the general mayhem and chaos on the narrow choking streets in this bazaar area.
Tall, creaking old buildings appear to be leaning to one side.
Along G-1 Street on the edge of the bazaar there are rows of shops selling guns and rifles. Mr Shad Mohamad proudly showed me his wares.
If I had a licence I could have bought a 7mm rifle for the equivalent of £40 or a pistol for £30.
Down the road in the Namak Mandi end of the Khyber Bazaar at 11 a.m., people had gathered for this rally called by the Jamiat ulema-I-Islam, a Muslim political grouping.
The protesters were mostly students of various madrassahs, the religious schools that spawned many of the Taliban leaders. In these schools, students recite the Koran in Arabic for up to six hours a day. The madrassahs are men only: women are not allowed inside.
About 50 Pakistan police with riot shields looked on yesterday as the group vented its anti-American views. Some of the crowd also carried batons.
An effigy of an American man wearing a shirt with "dog" emblazoned on it was hanging on a stake at the makeshift stage where several speakers spoke.
The effigy was burned to loud cheers.
One of the leaders, Mr Qari Usman, was first to speak. "Afghanistan will prove a graveyard for the Americas," he roared. "They should think a hundred times before coming to attack this tough terrain . . . We are now ready for a jihad against America."
He reminded the crowd that the "valiant people" of Afghanistan have never surrendered before to any invader. "We defeated the British. We defeated the Russians and we will defeat the Americans too.
"Bush should take a lesson from Russia if he wants to save the United States."
Every so often the assembled crowd chorused: "Long live Osama bin Laden. Long live Osama bin Laden," and "Taliban, Taliban".
Another speaker said: "We are ready for the bombs.
"The United States wants to fight with Muslims from all over the world. There is no evidence against Osama bin Laden."
A man shouted from the assembled crowd: "I will sacrifice my wife and children for Pakistan. I am ready."
Gen Musharraf, who in a TV address the previous evening appealed to people to give consideration to the country's critical concerns, was then the target of the crowds ire.
"Shame on Musharraf. You want to do business against Islams.
"He is the follower of American and is a shame for all Muslims. Musharraf is aiding and abetting the enemy."
Meanwhile, yesterday Pakistan held its breath as the likelihood of an attack on Afghanistan edged nearer.
Even the decision of the Taliban Muslim clerics to recommend that bin Laden leave Afghanistan voluntarily to avert a strike from the US Osama did not offer people hope.
"There is no way he will leave inevitably. We are waiting for the worst," one man said.