Muslim Cartoon Protests Turn Deadly

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.

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 comme