PESHAWAR, Feb 23: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has announced that there will be no strike in the city during anti-blasphemy demonstrations to be held after Friday prayers (today).

The MMA has planned protests against the publication of sacrilegious cartoons in some European newspapers.

Shopkeepers and restaurant owners in the Saddar area, however, have apprehensions about the security situation, a shopkeeper said.

Shop-owners have hoisted banners inscribed with verses from the Holy Quran in front of their shops to keep trouble-makers away. Many have covered the fronts of their shops with tarpaulin.

Local business has been seriously affected by the ongoing protests.

The MMA will take out a procession from Mahabat Khan Mosque after Friday prayers, which will convert into a protest rally in Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

The Jamaat-i-Islami, Peshawar district, said in a press release that it would take part in the protest but no call for strike had been given.

It demanded that diplomatic ties with Denmark should be severed and the cartoonists responsible for blasphemy should be punished severely.