
Scenes of chaos broke out across the Muslim world today as hundreds of thousands of protesters burned flags and effigies in anger over the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Protesters gathered in the main market square in Bannu, Pakistan, chanting 'Death to the government of France', before setting fire to dozens of French flags and an effigy of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

As the anger mounted, some demonstrators even set fire to an inverted Italian flag, which they mistakenly thought belonged to France.

A second effigy destroyed in the protest was said to represent the editor of the Charlie Hebdo, the magazine which was subject to a brutal attack earlier this month, after two masked jihadist gunmen stormed the Paris headquarters and killed 12 people.

The dramatic scenes came as more than 2,000 Iranians protested outside the French embassy in Tehran, shouting 'Death to French' and urging the ambassador to be expelled.

Hundreds of thousands of people also gathered in the Russian region of Chechnya, amid growing anger over the publication's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

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Protesters gathered in the main market square in Bannu, Pakistan, chanting 'Death to the government of France', before setting fire to an effigy of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and an effigy of the editor of Charlie Hedbo magazine

As the anger mounted, the effigies were placed in front of a burning Italian flag, which protesters mistakenly thought belonged to France

Scenes of chaos broke out across the Muslim world in rallies against a cartoon featured in the French satirical magazine

Hundreds chanted as the effigy of Mr Sarkozy fell to the ground amid flames and a backdrop of waving flags

The dramatic scenes came amid growing anger over the publication's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed, following the Paris attacks

The cartoon has sparked protests across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, including outside the French Cultural Centre in Gaza City (pictured)

The image has angered many Muslims as depictions of Mohammed are widely considered forbidden in Islam. It has also triggered protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, some of which turned deadly.

Iran denounced the Paris massacre but it also condemned the magazine's new cartoon, where the prophet holds a 'Je suis Charlie' sign under the heading 'All is forgiven'.

Plans for today's protest also led the French ambassador to announce that the embassy, located in busy downtown Tehran, would be closed all day.

Meanwhile, in Grozny, protesters marched through the streets of downtown Grozny, releasing balloons and carrying posters that read 'Hands off our beloved prophet' and 'Europe has only united us'.

'More than 800,000 people took part in the event in the centre of Grozny,' the Russian interior ministry said.

On Friday, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his official Instagram account that those who defended Charlie Hebdo were his 'personal enemies', and vowed that at least 1 million people would join the government-sponsored protest in Grozny.

Russia, which has a large and restive Muslim population and waged two devastating wars against Chechnya in the 1990s, offered its condolences to France after the attack but has warned local publications against reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons that featured the Prophet Mohammed.

Roskomnadzor, the Russian communications oversight agency, sent letters to several local publications barring them from re-publishing the French caricatures, and published a warning to nationwide publications on its Facebook page last week.

'Roskomnadzor calls on all national media to choose other methods of expressing their solidarity with their tragically killed French colleagues, rather than inflaming sectarian tensions in Russian society,' said the statement.

According to Russian news agencies, 15,000 people joined a similar demonstration in the neighbouring region of Ingushetia on Saturday.

In Tehran, the protest - which was organised by students but attended by all age groups - was given a heavy security detail of around 150 Iranian police, and although noisy it passed off peacefully after two hours.

More than 800,000 Chechens attended a rally against satirical cartoons of the prophet Mohammed published in Charlie Hebdo

The rally took place near the Heart of Chechnya mosque in Grozny, with the regional leader denouncing Charlie Hebdo as 'vulgar and immoral'

On Friday, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his official Instagram account that those who defended Charlie Hebdo were his 'personal enemies'

Russia offered its condolences to France after the attack but has warned local publications against reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Chechen Muslims march in the downtown regional capital of Grozny to take part in a protest rally against Charlie Hebdo on Monday

One speaker said the demonstration was to 'condemn the insult of Charlie Hebdo,' but also to denounce that 'the embassy forces women to remove their veils to get a visa'.

In Iran, women, regardless of their religious denomination, must have their hair and neck covered by a veil under a female dress code in force since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

'The least I can do is protest against this insult, we condemn insults of the prophet,' a woman in her 50s wearing a traditional head-to-toe black chador told AFP.

As in customary in Iran, men and women were segregated at the protest.

Those gathered also criticised Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for being in Paris for a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday.

The organisers in a final statement asked Zarif to apologise for making the trip 'just two days after this disgraceful cartoon was published,' also demanding the French ambassador be expelled.

French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday that anti-Charlie Hebdo protesters in other countries do not understand France's attachment to freedom of speech.

Chechens attend a rally titled 'Love for the Prophet Mohammad' to protest against satirical cartoons of the prophet

Russia, which has a large and restive Muslim population and waged two devastating wars against Chechnya in the 1990s, offered its condolences to France after the attack but has warned local publications against reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons

A cartoon image of Mohammad on its front page outraged many in the Muslim world, triggering demonstrations that turned violent in Algeria, Niger and Pakistan on Friday. Pictured are Chechen Muslims in the regional capital of Grozny

French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday that anti-Charlie Hebdo protesters in other countries do not understand France's attachment to freedom of speech

A man takes pictures of himself, with crowds of people and the Heart of Chechnya mosque in the background, during a rally to protest against satirical cartoons of prophet Mohammad in Grozny

Roskomnadzor, the Russian communications oversight agency, sent letters to several local publications barring them from re-publishing the French caricatures, and published a warning to nationwide publications on its Facebook page last week

The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo sold out within hours in France

It came as the magazine's distributors said its print run of the 'survivors' edition' had been lifted to an unprecedented seven million copies - 120 times its normal 60,000 circulation.

'We've supported these countries in the fight against terrorism,' Hollande said during a visit to the southern city of Tulle, traditionally his political fiefdom.

'I still want to express my solidarity (towards them), but at the same time France has principles and values, in particular freedom of expression,' he added.

The shootings in Paris were prompted by Charlie Hebdo's previous publication of cartoons showing Mohammed, a depiction many Muslims consider blasphemous.

CHURCHES SET ALIGHT BY PROTESTERS ANGRY AT CHARLIE HEBDO'S PROPHET CARTOON Forty-five churches were torched over the weekend in Niger's capital during deadly protests over the publication of a Prophet Mohammed cartoon by the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, police said on Monday. The protests, which left five people dead and 128 people injured, also saw a Christian school and orphanage set alight, Adily Toro, a spokesman for the national police, told a press conference. Similar protests on Friday in the second city of Zinder also saw five people killed and 45 wounded. Several Algerian police officers were injured in clashes with demonstrators in Algiers after rioting broke out at the end of a protest. 'There are tensions abroad where people don't understand our attachment to the freedom of speech,' Hollande said. 'We've seen the protests, and I would say that in France all beliefs are respected.' Advertisement

Police in Niger fired teargas on Saturday at hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in a second day of clashes over Charlie Hebdo's publication of the image.

France's embassy in Niamey advised its citizens against going out in the streets and urged caution due to the demonstrations.

Five people were killed on Friday in the Zinder, the second city of the former French colony, while churches were burned and Christian homes looted. The death toll was revised up after a burned body was discovered in a Catholic Church.

Forty-five churches in total were torched over the weekend in Niger's capital.

Protests also turned violent on Friday in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi where police used tear gas and a water cannon against demonstrators outside the French consulate.

A photographer for French news agency Agence France-Presse was also wounded by a gunshot during the protest.

Several Algerian police officers were injured in clashes with demonstrators in Algiers after rioting broke out at the end of a protest.

In Gaza City some 200 radical Islamists tried to storm the French cultural centre on Monday, shouting slogans threatening the lives of staff over Charlie Hebdo cartoons, an AFP photographer said.

'Damnation upon France!' the protesters chanted, waving the black flags adopted by jihadists.

Some of the protesters also carried pictures of the Islamist brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi who carried out the attack.

'Leave Gaza, you French, or we will slaughter you by cutting your throats,' chanted the protesters.

Palestinian police arrested dozens of people who tried to break into the centre, which has been closed since it was damaged in a fire last October.

Protest graffiti was sprayed outside the building before dawn Saturday with one of the slogans reading 'You will go to hell, French journalists.'

'There are tensions abroad where people don't understand our attachment to the freedom of speech,' Hollande said. 'We've seen the protests, and I would say that in France all beliefs are respected.'

Produced by survivors of the attack on the newspaper, the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo sold out in minutes when it hit newsstands on Wednesday. It shows a cartoon of a tearful Mohammad holding a 'Je suis Charlie' sign under the words 'All is forgiven.'

A lawyer for one of the gunmen in the Charlie Hebdo attack said the man had been buried in the eastern city of Reims in an unmarked grave so as not to attract visitors.

Meanwhile, Belgium deployed hundreds of troops to guard potential terrorism targets. Two gunmen were killed on Thursday during an anti-Islamist raid in the town of Vervier.

A Palestinian Salafist burns a French national flag during a protest against the printing of the satirical sketches

Some protesters in Gaza shouted 'damnation upon France!' while others threatened to slit the throats of French staff at a cultural centre

Palestinian Salafist Jihadists wave al-Qaeda-affiliated flags and hold placards during a protest against the printing of satirical sketches of the Prophet Mohammed by Charlie Hebdo

Palestinian Salafists, members of an ultra-conservative sect of Islam, break past a police checkpoint outside the French Cultural Center in Gaza City during a protest against caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed published in Charlie Hebdo

Pakistani Al-Hamidiyah students burn a mock-up of the French flag during a protest against the Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Pakistani protesters in Peshawar burn an effigy representing Charlie Hebdo cartoonists as they march against the printing of satirical sketches of the Prophet Mohammed