Muslims in Kuala Lumpur hold up banners, protesting against the publication of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper

Thousands of Muslims in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Middle East have continued protests against controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The first major Indian protest erupted on the streets of New Delhi after Friday prayers with Muslims chanting "Death to Denmark." Protests also were held in other Indian cities.

In Pakistan, thousands of people demonstrated in Islamabad, Karachi, and elsewhere.

Several thousand Muslims gathered outside Dhaka's main mosque and burned makeshift coffins designated Denmark, Italy, France and Norway.

In Afghanistan, the protesters gathered at several places in Kabul.

Similar protests were staged in several Middle Eastern cities. In Tehran, Iranian protesters smashed windows and threw fire bombs at the French embassy - despite calls from a leading cleric to stop violent attacks.

Police in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, say about 2,000 protesters marched from a mosque to the nearby Danish embassy, chanting slogans against Israel and the West.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told an international conference the Muslim world and the West must stop demonizing each other and "accept one another as equals."