KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10: Thousands of Muslims protested in Malaysia on Friday over the controversial cartoons as the prime minister warned of a ‘huge chasm’ between the West and Islam.

With Muslim anger boiling over across much of the world due to the drawings, first published in a Danish newspaper, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had strong words for the West as he hosted an international meeting on Islam.

“They think Osama bin Laden speaks for the religion and its followers. Islam and Muslims are linked to all that is negative and backward,” said Mr Abdullah.

“The demonisation of Islam and the vilification of Muslims, there is no denying, is widespread within mainstream Western society,” he said.

Mr Abdullah said Western nations wanted to control the world’s oil and gas, and blamed that desire along with colonialism and “the imposition of Israel upon the Arab world” for a rift with the Muslim faith.

The premier also said Muslims saw the “hegemony” of Western powers “manifested directly in the attack upon Afghanistan and in the occupation of Iraq”.

These “have all contributed in one way or another to the huge chasm that has emerged between the West and Islam,” he told the gathering of religious leaders and scholars in Kuala Lumpur.

At least 13 people have been killed in demonstrations against the cartoons in mainly Islamic countries, and thousands rallied after Friday prayers outside the Danish embassy in the Malaysian capital.

Chanting “Allahu Akbar!” and holding banners saying “Down with Denmark!”, the crowd marched on the embassy.

A group of mainly young Muslim men wearing skullcaps, led by opposition Pan-Malaysia Islamic party (PAS) president Hadi Awang, handed over a petition to the embassy.

“The Danish government are playing with fire,” Hatta Ramli, a PAS central committee member, yelled as he punched his fist in the air.

“There is definitely something rotten in the state of Denmark. You can insult anybody but not our beloved Prophet (PBUH). If you insult our Prophet (PBUH), we are ready to die,” Hatta said.

It was the first rally here against the cartoons, and came a day after Abdullah ordered the closure of a local newspaper, the Sarawak Tribune, which reprinted the caricatures — the only paper in mainly-Muslim Malaysia to do so.

It was believed to be the first newspaper anywhere in the world to be closed down for publishing the drawings.

“Sarawak Tribune’s publication permit (was) suspended indefinitely with immediate effect,” state news agency Bernama quoted him saying Thursday night.—AFP