Pakistani protesters attack Western businesses

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistani protests against the Danish cartoons satirizing the prophet Muhammad spilled into violent attacks on American and European businesses Tuesday.

Thousands of men and young people marched in the streets of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, and started a riot when a security guard shot protesters threatening a bank. The mob burned or stoned outlets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, a Holiday Inn hotel and an office of Telenor, a Norwegian mobile phone company.

But TV footage also showed more random destruction – men burning the Punjab province legislative building, parked cars and motorcycles, and a firetruck.

The violence raises the political challenges facing the United States’ key Muslim ally, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who already confronts insurgencies in two provinces and popular opposition to his alignment with Washington.

Tuesday’s rally was held under an agreement between Punjab province officials and a loose religious alliance, the Tehrike Tahafuz-e Namoos-e Resalat (Movement for the Defense of the Honor of the Prophecy of Muhammad). The movement is headed by a militant Lahore cleric, Maulana Sarfraz Naeemi, who blamed police for provoking and then failing to control protesters.

More rallies are scheduled for this week, leading to a planned nationwide protest March 3, about the time that President Bush is to visit Pakistan. But TV channels here said Tuesday night that Punjab, by far the most populous province, has now banned public gatherings.