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A Pakistani Muslim cleric and his followers are offering rewards amounting to more than $1.49 million for any one of the Danish cartoonists who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that have enraged Muslims worldwide.
The bounty was offered during Friday prayers as Muslim anger against the cartoons flared anew in parts of the world.
"If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden and [al Qaeda deputy Ayman al Zawahri], we can also announce reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege of the holy Prophet," cleric Maulana Yousef Qureshi told Reuters.
Weeks of protests over the cartoons have triggered fears of a clash of civilisations between the West and Islam, and have led to calls on all sides for calm.
"This is not the first time we've been threatened," one of the 12 cartoonists involved said on condition of anonymity. "The drawing I made was meant as a practical joke ... and yet I have been dragged into this absurd situation."
On Friday, thousands rallied in Pakistan, Bangladeshi police blocked demonstrators heading for the Danish embassy, and Indian police fired teargas and used batons to beat back hundreds of protesters who stoned shops in the city of Hyderabad.
In New York, about 2,000 Muslims gathered near the Danish consulate carrying placards reading "Prophet Mohammad, a man of peace" and "Spread peace not hate". Thousands of Muslims marched through the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam.
Five deaths
Protests in Pakistan this week have resulted in at least five deaths, and on Friday it became the latest country where Denmark has decided to temporarily close its embassy. Denmark urged any Danes in Pakistan to leave as soon as possible.
In the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, Qureshi said he had personally offered a bounty of 500,000 rupees ($8,400) to anyone who killed a Danish cartoonist. Two of his congregation put up additional rewards of $1 million and one million rupees.
The cleric leads the congregation at the historic Mohabat mosque, on street known for goldsmith shops in the provincial capital of North West Frontier Province -- a stronghold of Pakistan's Islamist opposition parties.
The cartoons were first published in Denmark in September, but last month newspapers and magazines in Europe and elsewhere began republishing to assert principles of freedom of expression.
Muslims believe images of the Prophet are forbidden.
Pakistan said it was recalling its own ambassador from Copenhagen for consultations. It did not elaborate.
The Danish ambassador in Islamabad said relations had not been broken off because of the furore.
"I'm still in Pakistan and in a secure place," Ambassador Bent Wigotski told Reuters.
"There is no question of broken relations or anything like that," he said, adding that the German embassy was looking after Denmark's consular affairs.
Denmark has already shut missions in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Indonesia as a result of violence or threats of violence.
Anti-US tone
Protests in Pakistan have been large and violent and many have taken on a distinctly anti-US tone. In addition to burning Danish flags, demonstrators have attacked US fast-food outlets and burned effigies of US President George W. Bush.
Islamist parties have called for a nationwide strike on March 3, around the time Bush is expected to visit Pakistan.
Western leaders have been calling for calm.
French President Jacques Chirac and former US President Bill Clinton both said on Saturday it was a mistake to publish the cartoons.
Chirac told the India Today magazine: "I am appalled by what happened as a result of the publications of these cartoons.
"I am, of course, in favour of the freedom of the press, which is a pillar of democracy. But I am equally for respecting everyone's sensibilities... So I deplore the situation," said Chirac, who visits India next week.
Clinton, on a private visit to Pakistan, said he saw nothing wrong with Muslims around the world demonstrating in a peaceful way, but he feared a great opportunity to improve understanding had been squandered.
"This is not a time to burn bridges; this is a time to build them," he said, adding, "I can tell you that most people are horrified that this much misunderstanding has occurred."
