Muslims March On Embassy

Updated:23:45, Friday February 03, 2006

Hundreds of Muslims have staged angry protests in London following the publication of cartoons satirising the prophet Mohammed.

Scores waved placards bearing angry messages, one declaring: "Behead the one who insults the prophet".

Protesters on the march

Others said: "Free speech go to hell" and "Europe: Your 9/11 will come".

The protesters met after Friday prayers outside Regent's Park mosque in central London and marched through the streets towards the Danish embassy on Sloane Street.

They chanted religious slogans in Arabic, paying homage to Allah and the Prophet.

Among those protesting was 26-year-old Bushra Varakat, a student from Egham, Surrey.

She said: "We don't know why these silly people use these cartoons unless they were showing how much they hate us.

"We have to defend our prophet otherwise Allah will punish us. We will not accept this ridicule."

France Soir newspaper carried a Mohammed cartoon

However Mohammed Demasco, 24, who moved to the UK from Syria 13 years ago, said they did not represent the views of mainstream Muslims.

"It is ridiculous," he said. "The UK has given us a living and jobs and provided us with opportunities that our own countries could not give us."

The cartoons that provoked the fury first appeared in a Danish newspaper but were then reproduced in other European countries.

No British newspaper has carried them, but broadcasters including the BBC, ITV and Channel Four have included them in their output.