In Afghanistan, NATO troops killed four demonstrators Tuesday as angry protests continued over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. NATO officials said the protesters had attacked a base in the northern town of Maymana. Meanwhile, thousands of people convened for protests in several Muslim countries, including Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan. The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten originally published the 12 cartoons last September–including one that shows the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. The cartoons were republished in European and other news media in the last week. Muslims say the images are blasphemous and contrary to Islamic tradition prohibiting depictions of the prophet. On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a public appeal to Muslims around the world: “Today I want to appeal and to reach out to all people in countries in the Muslim world. Let us work together in the spirit of mutual respect and tolerance, we need to solve this issue through mutual respect and dialogue and not violence.”

Meanwhile, several Muslim groups continued to argue that while they support freedom of expression, the cartoons were in poor taste. Dr. Esam Omeish, President of the Muslim American Society said: “We vehemently stand by the freedom of the press and with the freedom of opinion, however we say that with this freedom is responsibility in which there must be respect for other religions and the rights of others and to stress that we are all part of one society. We want what’s good for the whole society and we do not want to disrespect the rights of one another.”