Denmark temporarily pulls ambassadors from Syria, Iran and Indonesia.
By JPOST.COM STAFFriot police in old city (photo credit: AP)
Police and Border Police were dispatched to Nablus Gate outside Jerusalem's old city Saturday afternoon to disrupt an anti-Denmark protest, which took place there.
Some 150 east Jerusalem youths were trying to burn the Danish flag in protest of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in a Danish paper last September.
Police forces used stun grenades after the youths pelted the forces with stones and refused to leave the area.
No one was wounded, and two protesters were arrested.
In related news, Denmark has temporarily withdrawn its ambassadors from Syria, Iran and Indonesia because their safety was at risk, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
Denmark's embassy buildings in all three countries had been targeted by angry mobs protesting the prophet Muhammad drawings published in a Danish newspaper.
The Foreign Ministry said it withdrew all Danish staff from its embassy in Tehran because of "serious and concrete threats" against the ambassador.
Threats had also been directed at the embassy personnel in Indonesia, the ministry said, without giving details.
Earlier Saturday, the ministry announced it had temporarily pulled back its ambassador and other Danish staff from Syria because they were not getting enough protection from authorities. The Danish ambassador to Lebanon left earlier this week after protesters burned the embassy building in Beirut.
In Paris, several thousand Muslims marched through the streets Saturday to protest the published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, with some demonstrators holding up copies of the Koran.
Marchers chanted prayers in Arabic, including "God is great!" One banner read: "When you attack religion, it's us you are attacking." Others said, "No to Islamophobia" and "French Muslims have the right to be respected."
