Muslim Cartoon Protests Turn Deadly

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

(CBS/AP) 
Violent protests over the cartoons flared up for the first time in Iran, where about 200 demonstrators threw stones at the Austrian Embassy. They broke some windows and started small fires in the two-hour protest in Tehran.

"Death to Denmark, death to Israel," the protesters, mostly students, chanted, as some burned flags of Germany, Denmark and France. One protester carried a caricature of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Washington condemned the violence and urged governments to take steps to cool tensions.

"We understand fully why people, why Muslims, find the cartoons offensive," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

"Those who disagree with the views that were expressed, certainly have the right to condemn them but they should be peaceful," he added.

Palestinian police with batons beat back stone-throwing protesters who gathered outside the European Commission building in Gaza City. About 200 showed up for the protests, and roughly a dozen teenagers in the crowd began chucking stones at Palestinian police guarding the building. No injuries were reported.

In Jordon, a majority of lawmakers on Monday demanded that the government cancel economic and cultural agreements with Denmark, Norway, New Zealand and other nations where offensive drawings of Islam's Prophet Muhammad were published.

In a memorandum, 64 deputies in the 110-member parliament also demanded a "boycott and a ban on imports of products from these nations," the official Petra news agency reported.

Khalil Atiyeh, an independent MP who championed the parliamentary motion, said if the Cabinet failed to meet the demands, lawmakers will call for a vote of confidence in the 24-member Cabinet of Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit, who took office two months ago.

Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of students in the Indian capital of New Delhi. The protesters, mostly university students, chanted slogans and burned a Danish flag before they dispersed them.

Meanwhile, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir came to a standstill Monday as shops, businesses and schools shut down to protest the caricatures.

Protests continued to spread across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. The rowdiest demonstrations were in Surabaya, the country's second largest city, where hundreds of demonstrators threw rocks at the Danish consulate before moving on to the U.S. consulate.

Police there fired warning shots to prevent them from ripping a plaque from the wall of the American mission. No one appeared to have been injured in the unrest.

Only a couple of newspapers in the Muslim world have published the cartoons. Kamal Matinuddin, a political commentator in the Pakistani press, said newspapers in Pakistan would not consider carrying the pictures because of people's strong ties with their religion.

"This cannot happen here," Matinuddin said. "Nobody will do it. Nobody will dare do it."