Police broke up violent anti-American protests in several Asian countries on Friday but Arab anger against US-led strikes on Afghanistan was muted as crowds spilled onto the streets after Muslim prayers.
Turnout at demonstrations in the Middle East was lower than expected and there was little violence in the region after the first Friday prayers since the US strikes began.
Earlier, protesters marched in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
"We are ready to die to defend Islam. Kick out the Americans," shouted Indonesian protesters after prayers in the capital of the world's largest Muslim country.
Five nights of US warplanes pounding Afghanistan were taking their toll outside Afghanistan as fears of a Muslim backlash deepened and police across the Muslim world cracked down hard on anti-US protests.
In majority-Hindu India, police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse thousands of protesting Muslims.
Worshippers poured onto the streets of major cities after prayers shouting anti-US slogans. They burnt effigies of Bush and the British flag, demanding an immediate end to the bombing of Afghanistan that began last Sunday.
"Death to America. Death to Israel. Taliban, Taliban, we salute you," some 10,000 Muslims chanted at the country's biggest mosque, the Jama Masjid in New Delhi.
In the southern city of Hyderabad and in Srinagar, summer capital of Kashmir, Muslims pelted police with stones, and elsewhere crowds chanted anti-American slogans.
In the eastern city of Calcutta, some 4,000 Muslims gathered near a mosque shouting "Long live bin Laden, down with Bush."
"Don't worry [bin Laden], the Muslims will support you in your holy war," they shouted.
Muslims burned US flags in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and set off firecrackers outside the US embassy in Jakarta as demonstrations quickly followed prayers.
In Indonesia, where two hardline Islamic groups have vowed to expel foreigners, police used a water cannon to douse burning US and British flags and an effigy of US President George W. Bush after 1,000 protesters gathered outside the US embassy.
Five people were injured in a protest in the country's second biggest city of Surabaya, but the handful of rallies around the capital were far quieter than radical Muslim groups had threatened.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian police used water cannon to disperse around 3,000 protesters carrying banners reading "Go To Hell America" outside the US embassy -- the biggest protest so far in the mainly Muslim nation since the air strikes began.
Earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the air strikes should end. The government refused to support the action but has backed the war on terrorism.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS