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Afghan protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in Kabul on March 21, 2008. Some five thousand people gathered in the Afghan capital in the latest of a wave of protests against cartoons and a film said to insult Islam. The demonstrators gathered following Friday prayers from various mosques chanting "death to Jews and Christians."
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KABUL (AFP)---Thousands of demonstrators torched Dutch and Danish flags in the Afghan capital Kabul Friday in the latest of a wave of protests against cartoons and a film said to insult Islam, police said.
The demonstrators gathered following Friday prayers from various mosques chanting "Death to George W. Bush. Death to the Jews and Christians. This is a plot against Islam," an AFP reporter at the scene said.
There have been protests in most of Afghanistan's main cities against the reprinting of Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed as well as an anti-Koran film set to be released this month by a far-right Dutch lawmaker.
The protesters set fire to flags and an effigy of the Dutch film maker.
Anti-riot police were stationed outside the Danish embassy and at main intersections in the city.
"Police have taken necessary precautions. They provided security for the protest. It is peaceful so far," Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP.
A religious cleric making heated statements to the crowd through a loudspeaker called for Danish and Dutch troops in a NATO alliance fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan to leave.
"If they don't leave, killing them is allowed," said the bearded mullah.
The Netherlands has about 1,500 troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led peacekeeping mission, while Denmark has more than 600.
In early March, about 5,000 people protested in the western city of Herat.
The first printing of the Danish cartoons caused days of protests worldwide in early 2006, including in Afghanistan, where 11 people were killed.