A Pakistani Muslim cleric and his congregation are offering a reward amounting to $1 million for killing the Danish cartoonist who drew cartoons which Muslims perceive as offensive and blasphemous.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Denmark has been called back to Islamabad for consultations, while Denmark has temporarily closed its embassy in Pakistan.
A government minister in India has also offered a reward of $11.5 million to anyone who kills any of the cartoonists who drew the images of Muhammad, the Saudi Arab News reported.
At least ten people were killed in Libya on Friday during violent clashes with the police outside the Italian consulate in Benghazi. Demonstrators were said to be angry at Italian minister Roberto Calderoli who wore a T-shirt displaying one of the controversial cartoons.
The minister, who is charge of institutional reform, resigned on Saturday after the protests.
Sixteen people, mostly Christians, were killed in Nigeria when Muslims protesting against the cartoons attacked Christians and torched churches. Most of the riots took place in the northeastern city Maiduguri.
These are the first violent protests over the cartoons in Nigeria. More than 60 percent of Nigeria’s population is Muslim, with a sizeable Christian minority.
Muslims are demonstrating against a series of 12 cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad, which were first printed in a Danish newspaper and have since been reprinted in several European papers.
Many Muslims see the cartons as a smear campaign against them, especially since one of the cartoons shows the prophet with a bomb in his turban. Also, depiction of the prophet is prohibited in Islam and is considered blasphemous.