FLAG BURNING IN NIGERIA.

Nigerian MPs burn Denmark's flag.

Muslims regard the controversial cartoons as blasphemous. Nigerian MPs cheered in the northern majority Muslim state of Kano as Danish and Norwegian flags were burned in a ceremony in the parliament premises. The flags were torched to show disapproval of the publication in Denmark and Norway of cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. Earlier Kano state MPs passed a resolution to call off multi-million dollar trade negotiations with Denmark.
In Niger, thousands took part in banned protests against the cartoons. The cartoons, originally published in a Danish newspaper, have been denounced in other African countries and throughout the Islamic world.
In Somalia, a teenage boy died after protesters attacked police on Monday. Islamic tradition explicitly prohibits images of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad. Christian backing The BBC's Ado Saleh in Kano says some 200 people, including the 40 state parliamentarians, attended the flag burning.

CARTOON ROW

30 Sept 2005: Danish paper publishes cartoons.
20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM.
10 Jan 2006: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons.
26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador.
30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU's Gaza office demanding apology.
31 Jan: Danish paper apologises.
1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons.
4 Feb: Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus.
5 Feb: Protesters sack Danish embassy in Beirut.

Cartoon row: Your views.

They shouted "Allah Akbar" (God is great) as Kano's parliament speaker Balarabe Saidu Gani set the flags alight, he says. On Monday, the MPs passed a resolution ordering the Kano state government to call off negotiations with Denmark over a hydroelectric plant worth some $25m and to cancel the purchase of 72 buses from the country worth some $57m.

The Christian Association of Nigeira has condemned the publication of the cartoons.

BBC NEWS REPORT