Pakistanis protest Dutch anti-Koran film

KARACHI (AFP) - Thousands of Islamists rallied in southern Pakistan Saturday to condemn an anti-Koran film by a Dutch lawmaker and cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Danish newspapers, witnesses said.

About 4,000 supporters of a conservative Islamic movement marched in the southern port city of Karachi demanding that Islamabad cut diplomatic ties with Denmark and The Netherlands.

"We are ready to lay our lives to protect the honour of our great prophet," the emotional crowd shouted as speakers demanded the government snap ties with the two European nations.

The 17-minute film, "Fitna," by far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, features imagery of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the 2004 Madrid bombings combined with quotes from the Koran, Islam's holy book.

It has provoked a series of protests in Pakistan that remain peaceful.

"We put the government on one-month notice to expel these envoys and recall our ambassadors from the two countries, otherwise we will ask our followers to march on the capital Islamabad," movement leader Hanif Tayyub said.

He said he would also urge followers across Western countries to protest peacefully.

The Pakistan foreign ministry last month summoned the Dutch ambassador and lodged a "strong protest" over Wilders's film, which it said "deeply offended the sentiments of Muslims all over the world."

The cartoons originally appeared in a Danish newspaper in September 2005, sparking anger and protests across the Muslim world. Five people died in Pakistan in February 2006 during violent protests against the drawings.

At least 17 Danish dailies reprinted one of the cartoons in February, vowing to defend freedom of expression a day after police in Denmark foiled a plot to murder the cartoonist.

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