Koran riots rock city
From correspondents in Lahore, Pakistan
08feb06
AT least 3000 protesters enraged by the alleged desecration of the Koran clashed with police and torched two cinemas in Pakistan's second largest city Lahore, police said today.
The city, which is the capital of Punjab province, was tense after the mob rampaged through a poor neighbourhood overnight and also smashed up dozens of vehicles, local police officer Mohammad Abbas said. The trouble erupted late yesterday when copies of the Muslim holy book were found lying in a drain in the Bhatta area on the fringes of the sprawling city, located near the Indian border.
"The news of the desecration of the Koran spread quickly in the neighbourhood and within no time some three to four thousand people took to the streets shouting slogans against the desecration," Mr Abbas said.
He said the crowd armed with bamboo sticks turned violent, setting fire to two cinema houses and attacking public and private properties.
"Police used a mild baton charge to restore order but the situation is very tense," he said.
Mr Abbas said police had registered a case against unknown people under the country's blasphemy laws.
The violent protest came amid outrage in Pakistan and other Muslim countries over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in European newspapers.
Police were already out in force across Pakistan for the Muslim holy month of Muharram, when the minority Shi'ite community mourns the death of Mohammed's grandson, officials said.