The BBC reports that two Afghans have been killed at a rally against the Muhammed cartoons, deaths in more than a week of protests.

Police in the eastern city of Mihtarlam fired on demonstrators after a police station came under attack, a government spokesman said.

One person died at the scene, and another died in hospital in the nearby city of Jalalabad. Three people are thought to have been injured.

In the UK, Downing Street has called the behaviour of some Muslim protesters demonstrating in London over the weekend “completely unacceptable.”

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said that the police must bear down “very heavily” on those responsible and said that it was worrying that demonstrators were “doing things and saying things that are completely unacceptable and intolerable.”

“The police need to bear down on them very heavily and trace down those who have committed offences and prosecute them where they can get the evidence,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“There’s freedom of speech on the one hand, that’s sacrosanct, but on the other hand incitement to terror, incitement to suicide bombing, all of those are clear infringements of the law.”

The BBC also reports that Denmark has listed 14 countries it says Danes should not visit unless strictly necessary.

The countries are:

• Afghanistan
• Algeria
• Bahrain
• Egypt
• Iran
• Jordan
• Libya
• Morocco
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Qatar
• Sudan
• Tunisia
• United Arab Emirates

The foreign ministry also recommends against any travel to Syria or Yemen.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said he was “horrified to see the wave of violence and attacks and how this is spreading throughout the Middle East at a rapid pace”.

“This is clearly a matter of global concern and a matter that demands collective efforts and swift action,” he said. “It is now a case which is much bigger than the issue of the drawings.”

Mr Moeller thanked Muslim religious leaders who had deplored the arson attacks and criticised the reactions of the mobs.

Muhammed Cartoons Controversy - the timeline

• September 2005: On hearing complaints from a Danish writer that no illustrator dared work on his book about Muhammed, Jyllands Posten called for images of the prophet.
• September 30, 2005: Jyllands Posten published the 12 pictures they received to illustrate an article about censorship. They immediately receive death threats.
• January 10, 2006: Norwegian magazine, Magazinet, reprints the cartoons to show solidarity with Jyllands Posten
• January 12, 2006: Danish Muslim leaders and imams travel to the islamic world to “explain” how offensive the cartoons are. The 43 page document they took with them contained an additional three, deliberately offensive, cartoons that hadn’t been seen before
• January 17, 2006: After receiving death threats, Magazinet withdraws the cartoons from its website.
• January 25, 2006: Saudi Arabia’s top cleric calls on Denmark to punish the Jyllands-Posten over the cartoons.
• January 26, 2006: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador
• January 29, 2006: Libya closes its embassy in Denmark and threatens to take “economic measures.”
• January 30, 2006: Gunmen storm EU’s Gaza office demanding apology. After a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik says that the EU “strongly rejects” these threats and EU trade comissioner, Peter Mandelson warns that “Any boycott of Danish goods would be seen as a boycott of European goods.”
• January 31, 2006: Jyllands Posten expresses regret for offending Muslim sensibilities
• February 1, 2006: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint the cartoons
• February 2, 2006: Papers in Switzerland, Gemany and Spain reprint the cartoons
• February 3, 2006: Belgian papers reprint the cartoons.
• February 4, 2006: Syrians set fire to the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus
• February 5, 2006: Protesters set fire to the Danish embassy in Beirut

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