The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 20, 2006, Page 5, Image 5
Security forces seal Pakistani capital to quell prophet cartoon protests
IMthew Pennington
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
— Pakistani security forces
arrested hundreds of Islamic
hard-liners, virtually sealed
off the capital and used
gunfire and tear gas Sunday
to quell protests against
caricatures of the Prophet
Muhammad.
Pakistan had banned
protests after riots killed
five people in two cities last
week.
Elsewhere in the
Muslim world on Sunday,
demonstrators with wooden
staves and stones tried
unsuccessfully to storm the
U.S. Embassy in Indonesia,
while tens of thousands
rallied in the Turkish city
of Istanbul and complained
about negative Western
perceptions of Islam.
Troops patrolled the
deserted streets of the
northern Nigerian town of
Maiduguri, where thousands
of Muslims attacked
Christians and burned
churches Saturday, killing
at least 15 people during a
protest over the cartoons.
Most of the victims were
beaten to death by rioters.
In Saudi Arabia,
newspapers ran full-page
apologies by Jyllands
Posten, the Danish
newspaper that first ran the
caricatures in September.
The newspaper’s Web site
said businesses placed the
ad on their own initiative,
using an apology issued
by the newspaper late last
month. It did not identify
the companies or say if they
were Danish.
Boycotts of Danish
products throughout the
Muslim world have taken
a heavy toll on Denmark’s
exporters, especially those
selling Denmark’s famed
dairy products.
The cartoons, which have
been reprinted by other
Western publications, have
outraged Muslims. But
protests over the past three
weeks have grown into a
broader anger against the
West in general, and Israel
and the United States in
particular.
Demonstrations have
turned increasingly violent
and claimed at least 45 lives
worldwide, including 11 in
Afghanistan during a three
day span two weeks ago and
10 on Friday in the Libyan
coastal city of Benghazi.
The Libyan riot outside the
Italian consulate apparently
was sparked by a right-wing
Italian Cabinet minister
who wore a T-shirt with a
caricature of Muhammad.
On Sunday, thousands
of police and paramilitary
troops manned armored
personnel carriers and
sandbag bunkers in and
around Islamabad to block a
planned rally organized by a
coalition of hardline Islamic
parties that sympathizes
with the former Taliban
regime in Afghanistan and
is fiercely anti-American.
As roadblocks went
up around the capital,
authorities declared they
would arrest anyone joining
a gathering of more than
five people.
Maulana Fazlur Rahman,
an opposition leader who
denounced the government
ban as unconstitutional,
was allowed to stage a
small rally with eight other
opposition lawmakers and
a few supporters. They
chanted “God is great!” and
“Any friend of America is a
traitor.”
But police fired tear
gas and guns to chase off
hundreds of stone-throwing
protesters who tried to join
the rally and then enter an
enclave where most foreign
embassies are. The three
hour clash left the street
littered Vith rocks and
spent tear gas shells. An
Associated Press reporter
saw two injured police, one
bleeding from his head, and
several injured protesters.
Interior Minister Aftab
Khan Sherpao said police
used tear gas, but denied
they fired guns. The private
Geo TM network said
officers fired rubber bullets.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, a
top leader of the hardline
Islamic coalition, the
Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal
(United Action Forum),
was confined to his Lahore
residence and others were
detained or told to stay at
home, police said.
“These people could
create problems of law
and order,” said Chaudhry
S.hafqaat Ahmed, chief
investigator of the Lahore
police.
In Karachi, Pakistan’s
largest city, police said
15,000 coalition supporters,
most wearing white shrouds
of mourning splashed with
red paint to symbolize their
willingness to die defending
the prophet’s honor, rallied
peacefully.
Twelve-year-old Amar
Ahmed joined the protest,
carrying a sign reading, “O
Allah, give me courage to
’ kill the blasphemer.”
Hundreds of Muslims
burned a church in the
southern city of Sukkur. No
worshippers were inside at
the time, but one person
was hurt afterward when
police fired tear gas.
Adnan Ali / The Associated Press
Thousands of Pakistani protesters gathered to condemn the publication of cartoons
depicting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad on Sunday in Karachi, Pakistan.
SHERIRRR • COnTinUEOFROIRI
Paterson said.
Frank Knapp, president
of the Knapp Agency of
advertising and public
relations, called the 200-plus
crowd “a great turnout.”
The cannon firing
was the first activity of
a day commemorating
General Sherman’s march
to Columbia and the
subsequent destruction of
the city.
Knapp said a painting
of Union troops crossing
the Saluda River on Feb.
16, 1865, was unveiled at a
reception Friday.
The artist, John W.
Jones of Columbia, used
an illustration by a reporter
traveling with Sherman’s
army to recreate the scene.
The painting was
auctioned off and the funds
from the sale will be used
for the operations of the
Alliance, who commissioned
the painting.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
at the State Museum there
were various presentations
on the Civil War as well as
museum tours.
A symposium was held
with presentations from
local experts in Civil War
history.
There were also bus tours
that followed the path of
Sherman’s march through
Lexington County into
Columbia.
The tours stopped at the
Congaree Creek in Cayce,
the Columbia infill ruins
inside Riverbanks Zoo and
Gardens, and the remains
of the burned Saluda River
Bridge, which is also inside
the Riverbanks Zoo and
Garden property.
The bus tours were sold
out by the time of the
cannon firing, Knapp said.
The day was capped
off by a gospel concert of
period music by McGowan’s
Band in the State Museum
auditorium.
Rachel Beanland, public
relations manager of the
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden,
said the event began last year
to capitalize on the historic
tourism that Columbia has
to offer.
Beanland said the zoo was
“seeking to remind people
about the historic events
that happened in Columbia.
It’s not a North vs. South
thing.”
“It’s not your typical
Civil War re-enactment,”
Beanland said. “It’s more
than that.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
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could give USC the option
of what Pratt calls “buying
students.” He mentioned it
was not the most attractive
option but might need to
be done. “Buying students”
would mean giving good
students more money to
come to USC rather than
another institution.
Many elements can
affect rankings, including
admissions statistics and the
rate of students who pass
the bar.
Pratt also expressed
concern about the faculty,
saying he would like to hire ♦
additional staff, preferably
professors with established
careers.
Hiring respected
professors will also raise the
prestige and rankings of the
law school, Pratt said, but
more money will be needed
to attract them.
You oner them money,
Pratt said of hiring potential
faculty members. “You offer
them a chair that they don’t
have at their school.”
Pratt said he believes
the new law building is the
least of the school’s current
worries.
“It appears that that’s at
least on track to get started
sometime soon,” Pratt
said. “I think the real need
for money is primarily for
student scholarships and
financial aid.”
Jack Pratt is a law
professor at the University
of Notre Dame, where he
has been a faculty member
since 1986. Pratt said he is
not completely certain he
will accept the position if
chosen.
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