About 10 Libyans were killed in clashes with police when they tried to storm an Italian consulate in Libya on Friday in protests against Danish cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad (sallallahu alayhi wa salam), Italian officials said.
Libya said there had been deaths but gave no figure, as Muslim anger against the cartoons flared anew in parts of the world. "Eleven casualties, including dead, resulted from the clashes," a Libyan government statement said.
Italy's ambassador to Tripoli, Francesco Trupiano, told Reuters: "The number of dead is not official, or definitive, because until the clashes are over it's hard to say. But there are certainly about 10 (dead)."
The protesters set fire to the Danish flag and cars as they attempted to storm the Italian consulate in Benghazi, the only Western diplomatic mission in the eastern Libyan city.
Libyan state TV showed footage of stone-throwing protesters and security forces with guns in streets round a scorched building. The footage contained what sounded like gunshots.
Weeks of protests by Muslims across the world against the cartoons have triggered fears of a clash of civilizations between the West and Islam.
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.
DENMARK'S PAKISTAN EMBASSY CLOSED
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.
Pakistan said it was recalling its ambassador from Copenhagen for consultations. It did not elaborate. The Danish ambassador in Islamabad said relations had not been broken off because of the furor.
Denmark has already shut missions in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Indonesia as a result of violence or threats of violence.
Protests in Pakistan have been large and violent and many have taken on a distinctly anti-U.S. tone. In addition to burning Danish flags, demonstrators have attacked U.S. fast-food outlets and burned effigies of U.S. President George W. Bush.
PHOTO CAPTION
This image made from television shows an injured protester being carried after a riot outside of the Italian consulate, in Benghazi, Libya, Friday, Feb. 17, 2006. (AP)