Bush, Rice told to ‘shut up’ over cartoon issue

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims transformed a religious ceremony in Lebanon on Thursday into an emotional but peaceful protest against cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

“Defending the prophet should continue worldwide,” Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, told the crowd. “Let (U.S. Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice, (President) Bush and all the tyrants shut up: We are a nation that can’t forgive, be silent or ease up when they insult our prophet and our sacred values.”

“Today, we are defending the dignity of our prophet with a word, a demonstration but let George Bush and the arrogant world know that if we have to ... we will defend our prophet with our blood, not our voices,” Nasrallah added.

Rice on Wednesday accused Iran and Syria, both backers of Hezbollah and at loggerheads with the West, of deliberately stoking rage among Muslims.

Bush urged governments to stop the violence, including attacks on Western diplomatic missions in parts of the Muslim world.

Considering any portrayal of their prophet as blasphemous, angry Muslims have demonstrated around the world over the cartoons, first published in Denmark, then Norway and several other countries in Europe and elsewhere. At least a dozen people have died as police broke up several protests.

Nasrallah said there would be no compromise before Denmark apologizes and the European Parliament and individual assemblies in Europe pass laws that prohibit insulting the Prophet.

The European Union, meanwhile, sought to calm tension, calling for a voluntary media code of conduct to avoid inflaming religious sensibilities.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan scolded the media on Thursday for continuing to publish the controversial cartoons and defended an attempt by Islamic nations to have a new U.N. human-rights council address religious defamation.

“This is so widespread, and it is unfortunate; we all need to take steps to calm the situation,” he said.

Danish travel warning
Unlike a protest on Sunday that turned into a riot in which the building housing the Danish consulate was torched, there were no signs of violence in the march in Beirut’s southern suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Photo   View the cartoons that started it all Warning: Contents may be offensive

Lebanon has charged 203 people, mostly Lebanese but also Syrians and Palestinians, with taking part in the Sunday riots and promised swift trials.

But Denmark advised its citizens to leave Lebanon, fearing more protests in coming days.

“All travel to Lebanon is discouraged. All Danes are urged to leave the country. Danes should remain indoors until arrangements to leave the country can be made,” the Foreign Ministry said in a warning issued on Thursday.

Despite wind and rain, there was a high turnout at Thursday's protest -- put by security sources at more than 400,000, and by Hezbollah at 700,000. The march is an annual event to mark Ashura, when Shiites mourn the death of the prophet’s grandson, Imam Hussein, killed in Karbala in Iraq 1,300 years ago.

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