Moroccan labor and political groups to march against cartoons

Moroccan labor and political groups planned demonstrations later Friday, with the government's blessing, to protest the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in European media.

Photo: Moroccan labor and political groups to march against cartoons

The march in the capital, Rabat, would mark the latest groundswell of opposition to the caricatures across the largely Muslim North African kingdom. The Moroccan Interior Ministry on Wednesday approved the planned protest.

Several hundred Moroccans demonstrated Tuesday outside Denmark's commercial mission to protest the cartoons, first published by a Danish newspaper last fall and since reprinted around Europe in recent days. Another protest last Friday outside Morocco's parliament drew at least 4,000 people.

Morocco's government and the High Moroccan Council of Ulemas, or religious leaders, have condemned the caricatures, reports the AP.

I.L.