Muslim Cartoon Protests Turn Deadly

Afghan Clash Targets U.S., Kills 4; Security Stepped Up At Olympics

(CBS/AP)  Islamic fury over the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad spilled violently into the streets of Afghanistan, where protesters vented their anger against America. Police gunned down at least four people, some as they tried to storm a U.S. military base.

Thousands more joined increasingly violent demonstrations across the world, including in Somalia where stampeding protesters killed a teenage boy. For the first time, a small but unruly protest flared up in Iran, where about 200 demonstrators threw stones at the Austrian Embassy, while in Paris, a newspaper which published the caricatures last week, evacuated its office during a bomb scare.

The European Union issued stern reminders to 18 Arab and other Muslim countries that they must protect foreign embassies. British Prime Minister Tony Blair also criticized attacks on people of Denmark, where the cartoons were first published, and other Europeans as "completely unacceptable," CBS News radio correspondent Larry Miller reports.

"The attacks on the citizens of Denmark and people of the European community were completely unacceptable, as is the behavior of some of the demonstrators in London over the past few days," Blair said in a statement read by his spokesman.

"The police shall have our full support in respect of any action they wish to take with respect to upholding the law, so we understand the difficult situation they were facing."

Lebanon apologized to Denmark one day after protesters set fire to a building housing the Danish mission in Beirut. The attack "harmed Lebanon's reputation and its civilized image," Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.

In Italy, security officials at the Turin Olympics have stepped up their efforts in response to the protests.

Italy's top law enforcement agencies met on Monday with Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu, who was briefed by Italy's intelligence agency Sisde on the measures under way at the Olympics, a statement from his office said.

"Particular attention was dedicated to the consequences that there could be in Italy from the wave of protests in the Islamic world and to the additional prevention measures adopted in recent days," the statement said.

Anger that has been directed at European targets in recent days began to shift toward the U.S. on Monday, though American papers haven't published the offending cartoons.

About 2,000 protesters in Afghanistan tried to break into the heavily guarded U.S. base in Bagram outside the capital. Police fought back, killing two protesters and injuring five, but U.S. troops weren't involved, said Kabir Ahmed, the local government chief. A total four people died and 19 were injured in Afghan protests Monday.

Abdul Jabar Taqwa, governor of Parwan province where Bagram is located, said the protest started peacefully and claimed foreign infiltrators with guns had incited the crowd.

"I am sure the Taliban and al Qaeda were behind this," he said.

The cartoons first appeared in a Danish newspaper and have been reprinted by other European media in the name of free speech. The caricatures include a drawing of Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb.

Muslims have been outraged because Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet to prevent idolatry.

Muslim anger seems to be about more than just the drawings, reports CBS News correspondent David Hawkins.

"I believe that the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the propaganda in the media, are all part of the equation," Anjem Choudhary, a Muslim protest leader told Hawkins.

Police in Somalia fired in the air as they struggled to control hundreds of protesters who threw stones at officers and aid workers in the northern city of Bossaso. The shots triggered a stampede that killed a teenage boy, said businessman Mohamed Ahmed, a witness.