I write to express my relief that at least one person (Salbiah Ahmad's Mob violence - not in our name, please ) can offer a voice of sanity over the violent protests of Muslims over the cartoons of the Prophet. While I can understand that Muslims are angry over the cartoons, what I cannot understand is the way so many Muslims express that anger.

I have seen the cartoons and have failed to appreciate how offensive they really are. That is perhaps because I'm not a Muslim. However, what you failed to mention was that there are three really offensive cartoons that must be drawn with the intention of making Muslims really angry. I refer to the drawing of the Prophet with the snout of a pig and another drawing depicting a Muslim engaged in a sexual act with a dog. I don't know what the third cartoon was about.

Needless to say, I haven't actually seen the cartoons but read about it. These three extra cartoons were not published in the Danish paper but were added in mischievously and shown to Muslims in the countries of the Middle East with the comment that these cartoons were printed together with the other 12 cartoons.

This substantiated your assertion that there are actually Muslims out to stir up Muslim anger probably because they have another agenda. These violent demonstrations merely reinforces the opinions of many non-Muslims especially those in Western countries that Islam is a religion that condones violence as a legitimate form of protests for insults, perceived or real.

Remember Salman Rushie, the author of The Satanic Verses . The Iranian Ayatollah issued a fatwa that it is the Islamic duty of Muslims to kill this man for insulting the Prophet. Most of the Muslim friends that I have, seem to agree with the Ayatollah that Islam permits the killing those that offend the Prophet. Forgive me if I've been misled by my Muslim friends. I find it hard to believe that as I've also been told that Islam is a religion of peace.

The best selling novel The Da Vinci Code is offensive to many Christians. But no Christian in his right mind would call for the killing of the author, or Tom Hanks whom I believe is going to star in the movie. When the Taliban blew up the statues of the Bamiyan Buddhas, many people were dismayed but there were no violent demonstrations by Buddhist and no call to kill Muslims. That would really be against the Buddhist philosophy.

Incidentally, I must say that I'm pretty proud that Malaysian Muslim leaders also condemned the destruction of the statues. I happened to be in Srinagar, Kashmir, in the late 60s when there was some incident involving the al-Aqsa mosque, considered the third holiest shrine of the Muslims. There was a riot where buses, government buildings and some shops (belonging to Hindus) were torched. The only Catholic church in Srinagar was attacked.

It was a very frightening experience for me personally. I cannot remember whether there was any loss of lives but I do remember that I had to stay indoors and not go out although the al-Aqsa incident had absolutely nothing to do with me or anybody else in Kashmir. However, that seems quite immaterial. Therefore, I can imagine how the Danish people in Indonesia feel when they were advised to leave the country because their lives may be in danger. The way Muslims express their anger is very frightening.

What the world does not need is fear (and consequently, hatred) between peoples of different cultures and religions. We do not need this so-called clash of civilisations. What we need are more Muslims like you to tell those violent demonstrators - not in our name, please. Unfortunately, the angry voices seem much louder. We do not get to read enough viewpoints expressed by people like you in our so-called mainstream media.

Incidentally, the way Muslim Malaysians express their anger over these cartoons can only make me proud to be Malaysian.