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Police fear right-wing hijack of rally Karen McVeigh / London Times | February 18 2006 Extremist threat and shadow of violence in Libya
looms over protest by thousands of British Muslims Fears that the demonstration could turn violent were fuelled last night by reports that a similar protest in Libya descended into anarchy. At least ten people died when Libyan police fired on Muslims protesting against the cartoons in front of the Italian consulate in the port city of Benghazi. In an echo of the swift condemnation of the extreme messages carried by protesters who stood outside the Danish Embassy two weeks ago, moderate Muslims said that such views were no longer tolerated; but they expressed frustration that such protests were allowed to hijack the wider debate over freedom of speech. In Benghazi about 1,000 Libyans gathered in front of the Italian consulate to vent their fury at the cartoons, which have been published in some Italian newspapers. The riot appeared to be a reaction to Roberto Calderoli, an Italian Cabinet Minister, who yesterday wore a T-shirt emblazoned with one of the Danish cartoons satirising the Prophet. After hurling stones, the crowd charged through the police cordon and set fire to the building. Antonio Simoes-Concalves, a consular official, said that ten protesters had been killed and several more wounded in the clashes. As the consulate was consumed by flames Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, asked Signor Calderoli, a politician of the right-wing Northern League, to resign. Libyan security officials said that the demonstrators hurled stones and bottles at the consulate and later entered the grounds and set fire to the building and a consular car. Police fired tear gas grenades and live rounds in an effort to disperse the mob, but the demonstrators poured through the gates undaunted. Libyan television showed the consulate on fire and smoke bellowing from a car. “They should send in the military here. The police can’t keep them back. It’s getting worse here,” a consular official reported from inside the building under siege. Italy’s ambassador in Tripoli later met the Libyan Interior Minister, who condemned the violence. Riots and demonstrations have rocked the Muslim world in recent weeks over 12 cartoons on the Prophet Muhammad that first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September. In Pakistan, five people died in protests this week.
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