Over 500 Muslims gathered at the Swedish embassy today to voice their protest against three Swedish dailies for allegedly "insulting Prophet Muhammad".

They gathered at the embassy after Friday prayers led by Islamist party PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan and National Malay Students Federation (GPMS) president Jais Abdul Karim.

Both leaders submitted a two-page memorandum of protest to the embassy official.

The memo, endorsed by 19 Islamic non-governmental organisations, demanded that the Swedish government take stern action against the three dailies for inciting anger among the Muslims.

demo anti swedish paper After submitting the memo, Nasrudin burnt the Swedish flag as a sign of protest.

Besides carrying posters that read ‘We love the Prophet', ‘Don't insult the Prophet' and ‘We will fight for our Prophet', the group also shouted slogans like ‘Rude Swedish' and ‘Damn Sweden'.

Although around 40 police officers were seen patrolling the area, no untoward incident occured.

Foreign minister Anifah Aman on March 14 denounced the reprinting of the caricature of Prophet Muhammad by three Swedish newspapers that appeared on March 10.

The controversy started when a Swedish regional daily published cartoonist Lars Vilks' satirical cartoon in 2007, which prompted protests by Muslims in the country while Egypt, Iran and Pakistan made formal complaints.

An al-Qaeda front organisation had offered US100,000 to anyone who murdered Vilks, with an extra 50,000 if his throat was slit.