Thousands protest in London over cartoons

LONDON - Up to 4,000 demonstrators have converged on Trafalgar Square in London joining the capital's mayor in a protest against the publication of Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

In marked contrast to angry demonstrations outside the Danish embassy in London last week, the protest was good natured and there was no sign of the extreme anti-Western placards brandished at the embassy protest.

Organisers said the aim was to allow Britain's Muslim community to express concern about growing Islamophobia across Europe but also to appeal for calm.

"The first message we want to send to the country is that of the legitimate voice of the Muslim community as opposed to those that hijacked last week's demonstration outside the Danish embassy," the organisers said in a statement.

Appealing to Muslims to remain peaceful, they added: "It may appear to them that there is a great Western conspiracy against their faith, but there are a large number of people who are on the side of reconciliation, and we hope that comes out loud and clear on Saturday."

The cartoons were first published in September in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten and were then reprinted by papers in other countries, though not in Britain.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone said he supported the demonstration because it allowed the views of the mainstream Muslim community to be heard.

"Too many media outlets have given excessive weight to the fringes of this argument including giving a platform to racists and fascists," he said.

Publication of the cartoons was a "calculated and gratuitous insult to the Muslim community," Livingstone said, adding that had the images been of other groups they would have been condemned as racist or anti-Semitic.

"There is no excuse for breaking the law and anyone who does so should and will face prosecution, but there is no getting away from the fact that this whole episode has allowed much of Europe's media to engage in an orgy of Islamophobia," he said.

Last week, about 400 angry protesters gathered outside the Danish embassy in London carrying placards with slogans such as "Massacre those who insult Islam".

Politicians and mainstream Muslim organisations urged police to take action against those involved, and one man who took part dressed as a suicide bomber has since been arrested for breaching his prison parole order.

Uproar over the cartoons, one of which showed the Prophet Mohammad with a turban resembling a bomb, has swept the Muslim world, leading to attacks on some Danish embassies and a boycott of Danish goods in some countries.

The BBC drew criticism after the cartoons were briefly shown on some of its news bulletins.

Saturday's rally has the backing of numerous Muslim groups, including the Muslim Association of Britain and the Muslim Council of Britain.

- REUTERS