Clashes broke out briefly yesterday between police and Muslims protesting over the visit of US President George W. Bush to the southern Indian high-tech center of Hyderabad, reporters on the scene said.
The clashes began just after prayers ended and as some among the congregation of about 5,000 leaving the Mecca Mosque in Hyderabad, capital of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, began throwing stones at riot police.
The baton-wielding police pushed the crowd back into the mosque, from where the crowd continued to throw stones, shoes and plastic bottles at the security forces.
Some protesters also burnt an effigy of Bush on the street before retreating into the mosque.
The exchange continued for about 45 minutes before the protesters calmed down and were allowed to leave the mosque.
The authorities had deployed some 200 riot policemen and a batch of police on horseback outside the mosque fearful of trouble during Bush's four hour visit to the city.
About 40 percent of Hyderabad's seven million people are Muslim.
Muslim leaders said they were against the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. They also said Bush's visit to the city would help increase support for the radical Palestinian group Hamas in its fight against Israel.
Two separate protests earlier drew a combined crowd of about 5,000, organizers and witnesses said.
Bush spent much of his four-hour visit chatting with farmers, weavers and volunteers from self-help groups at an agricultural university, and interacting with young entrepreneurs at the Indian School of Business.
No shops opened in the business center after Muslim leaders called for the city to be brought to a standstill in protest at Bush's visit.
Police overnight slapped a ban on the flying of kites and balloons bearing anti-Bush slogans, which Muslim activists had said they would fly as part of their protest against US policies in the Middle East.
Tight security ensured that the protesters came nowhere the president, who in his interaction later with business students hailed the nuclear deal he and Singh sealed during talks in New Delhi on Thursday.
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