PESHAWAR, Feb 17: A rally was organised by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) here on Friday to protest against the publication of blasphemous cartoons in some European newspapers. The rally started after Friday prayers from the Mohabat Khan Mosque. Hundreds of protesters, led by NWFP Senior Minister Sirajul Haq and Maulana Yousuf Qureshi, after passing through Chowk Yadgar and People Mandi road reached the Shaheedan intersection in Qissakhwani bazaar.

They were chanting slogans against US President George W. Bush and President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Addressing the rally, Mr Sirajul Haq and Maulana Qureshi criticised the government for its weak stance on the issue of blasphemous caricatures published first by a Danish newspaper and re-printed by several European newspapers and magazines.

They urged the government to sever diplomatic relations with Denmark and Norway and asked their ambassadors to return to their country.

They said that the Danish cartoonist deserved death penalty.

Both the leaders urged the world community to frame new international laws related to blasphemy, otherwise the situation might get worse if another person commits blasphemy in the name of ‘freedom of expression’.

The protesters at the end of the rally set on fire the US flag and an effigy of the US president and later dispersed peacefully.

A separate protest demonstration was organised by Shabab-i-Milli, the youth wing of the JI, in front of its office in Nishtarabad after Friday prayers.

The activists chanted slogans against President Musharraf and the US president. They later hanged effigies of the heads of Danish, Norwegian, German and French governments.

Meanwhile, government employees of Grade-IV also staged a protest demonstration in front of the Government High School No-2 after Friday prayers demanding severepunishment for the Danish cartoonist.