Some 500 people staged a noisy but peaceful demonstration at the New Straits Times office at Jalan Riong in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon to protest the publishing of a cartoon by the newspaper deemed as mocking Prophet Muhammad.

The crowd, mobilised by PAS, had marched from the Saidina Abu Bakar Mosque in Bangsar Baru after Friday prayers to Balai Berita, a distance of about one kilometre. Two units from the Federal Reserve Unit and about 20 police officers were on standby at the venue.

PAS Youth head Salahuddin Ayub ( below, right ) launched the demonstration by handing over a memorandum protesting to the publication of the cartoon to a representative of the newspaper who met him at the front gate.

Speaking to the crowd after that, Salahuddin, who is Kubang Kerian member of Parliament, said he regretted that the NST chose to ignore the anger of the Muslim community over the cartoon that was published.

The paper, he added, had failed to learn lessons from the violent incidents in other countries over the past month sparked off by a Danish newspaper which published caricatures insulting the Prophet.

Posters, placards

Taking over the microphone, the party's Deputy Youth head, Idris Ahmad, urged Muslims to boycott the NST to protest what he termed as the newspaper's 'uncouthness' in running the cartoon.

"Who is the NST ? Who insulted the Prophet? Are we willing to allow the Prophet to be insulted," he asked to which the crowd resoundingly replied, "No".

The crowd then chanted Islamic verses while brandishing posters and placards calling for the resignation of NST 's top editors. At one point, the demonstrators attempted to move closer to the main gate of the premises but were persuaded by police officers to desist.

Several New Straits Times staff were seen observing the proceedings from inside their building with worried looks on their faces.

The blazing afternoon sun, however, soon took its toll on the crowd and after about 30 minutes, they began to disperse allowing traffic to once again enter and exit Balai Berita.

Earlier, PAS treasurer Dr Hatta Ramli, said he wanted to know whether the NST ran the cartoon as a business decision or for some other agenda.

He said he was unclear as to why the paper glorified those who insulted the Prophet besides further flaming sentiments still simmering following the publication of the Danish caricatures.

Show-cause letter

NST became embroiled in the controversy after publishing the cartoon strip on Monday. The 'Non Sequitur' strip featured a street artist sitting on a chair next to a sign which read 'Caricatures of Muhammad While You Wait'.

A boxed caption read 'Kevin finally achieves his goal to be the most feared man in the world'.

The next day, PAS and several non-governmental organisations lodged a police report against the daily. On Wednesday, the newspaper reprinted the cartoon alongside an editorial asking the people and government to judge if it was really offensive.

Following this, the 160-year-old government-owned newspaper was slapped with a show-cause letter demanding a written explanation in three days on why it should not be reprimanded. The paper issued an 'unreserved apology' through its front page yesterday.

Today, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government would not act against the paper for publishing the controversial cartoon because it had apologised.

The premier said as far he was concerned, the issue was settled.

Photos by Azlan Zamhari and Andrew Ong.