Thousands of angry Afghans in Kabul and Herat have protested the reprinting of the same Danish cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

A huge crowd of Afghans in Kabul cried 'Down with Denmark!' and 'Death to America!'

Denouncing the blasphemous act as an insult to Islam, the protesters burned the flags of the Netherlands and Denmark and an effigy of Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who plans to release a film criticizing the Qur'an this month.

A cleric addressing the crowd said America and the European Union should know this is not freedom of speech. "It's barbaric, and they must stop the film's release,'' he stressed.

He also called for the 600 Danish troops stationed in Afghanistan under NATO's International Security Assistance Force to leave.

In Heart, too, a crowd estimated at 10,000 people packed a sports stadium and protested the reprinting of the same Danish cartoon that sparked rage in the Muslim world two years ago.

The protesters shouted slogans that included "Death to Enemies of Islam" and "Death to Denmark and Holland and the Insulters of Islam."

Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders has said that he will soon release an anti-Islam film in the Netherlands that the US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have warned may spark global protests and raids.

FT/PA