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Somalis protest against offensive cartoons on birthday of Prophet Mohammad

Somali demonstrators step on a portrait photo of French President Emmanuel Macron during a protest against cartoons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) published in French media, along the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia October 29, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)

Protesters in Somalia's capital Mogadishu gathered on Thursday for a second day to protest against French President Emmanuel Macron and the printing of cartoons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in France.

Hundreds of people including clerics and youths gathered at a compound of an Islamic learning center to hold Mawlid celebrations, which marks Prophet Mohammad's birthday, and shouted slogans denouncing France and President Macron.

Some protesters carried paper drawings and photographs of Macron which they then burned while others chewed the pictures.

Protests have spread across the Muslim world since Macron made comments about Islam which angered many observers of the faith.

The row has its roots in a knife attack outside a French school on October 16 in which a man of Chechen origin beheaded Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown pupils cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in a civics lesson on freedom of speech. The caricatures are considered blasphemous by Muslims.

Macron has pledged to fight "Islamist separatism", saying it was threatening to take over some Muslim communities in France.

Several world leaders including Imran Khan and Recep Tayyip Erdogan have spoken out against Macron's recent comments.

Boycotts of French goods have also been called for in some Muslim countries.

(Source: Reuters) 


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