Muhammad Caricature Watch: Syrian Protesters Set Danish Embassy Ablaze Over Cartoon

Syrian demonstrators protest outside the burning Danish embassy in Damascus February 4, 2006. Hundreds of Syrian demonstrators set the Danish embassy on fire on Saturday to protest the printing by a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, a Reuters witness said.

Reuters: Syrian protesters set Danish embassy ablaze over cartoon

Thousands of outraged Syrians protesting offensive caricatures of Islam’s prophet torch the Danish Embassy in Damascus on Saturday Feb. 4, 2006. Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators who crowded outside the Norwegian Embassy after earlier setting fire to the Danish Embassy, about six kilometers (four miles) away

Furious Syrians set fire to the Danish embassy on Saturday as protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad spread and oil giant Iran said it was reviewing trade ties with countries that have published such caricatures.

Chanting “God is Great,” thousands of protesters stormed the embassy, burned the Danish flag and replaced it with a flag reading “No God but Allah, Mohammad is His Prophet.” They set fires which badly damaged the building before being put out.

No one was hurt as the embassy was closed at the time.

Denmark is at the eye of the storm as the cartoons that Muslims demonstrators find offensive, one of the Prophet with a turban resembling a bomb, first appeared in a Danish daily.

In another twist, Iran said it had formed a committee to review trade ties with countries that published cartoons that are deemed to insult the Prophet.

“A committee has been formed to review trade ties,” a spokesman for the presidential office said.

From Gaza to Lahore, demonstrators rallied on Saturday to condemn the cartoons in what has developed into a face-off between press freedom and religious respect.

For many Muslims depicting the Prophet Mohammad is forbidden and European leaders have called for calm, expressing deep concern about the furor that has erupted over the last days.

Newspapers have insisted on their right to print the cartoons, citing freedom of speech.

With the French riots a few months ago and now these violent demonstrations do you think our European friends particularly the LEFT will get the message regarding Islamic extremist fundamentalism?

How about the American LEFT and allowing domestic oil drilling to relieve some of our dependence on foreign oil?

Doubtful.