Around 1,000 Danish Muslims demonstrated peacefully in Copenhagen today against the reprinting of a satirical cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers last month.
On February 13th, a number of Danish newspapers published the cartoon - one of 12 that prompted riots in many Muslim countries in 2006 - in solidarity with the artist after three men were arrested on suspicion of planning to kill him.
The organisers of today's protest said in a statement that while they valued freedom of speech, they also wanted the Danish government to react more forcefully against humiliation of religious symbols.
A number of other Western newspapers have also reprinted the cartoon, which depicts the founder of Islam with a bomb in his turban. Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet offensive.
Islamists held demonstrations in Pakistan's main cities today to protest at the republication of the drawing.
A number of protests have been held in Muslim countries in the last three weeks, but none as violent as in 2006 when more than 50 people were killed in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The Netherlands yesterday raised its terrorism threat warning level ahead of the launch of a film about Islam by a right-wing politician who has described the Koran as a "fascist" book.