Over 20,000 rally in Russia's Ingushetia against Prophet Muhammad cartoons

Over 20,000 people rallied in Magas, capital of the Russian republic of Ingushetia, on Saturday to protest against the desecration of the Prophet Muhammad by Western publications.

Participants said that they were outraged over the actions of those who continue to ignore the religious feelings of Muslims and publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

"We have joined this rally because of the desecration of the Prophet Muhammad, the desecration of our religion," local Mufti Issa Hadji Khamoyev was quoted by TASS news agency as saying.

"The publication of the humiliating cartoons is nothing but demonstration of extremism from certain Western countries," said regional head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

"No doubt, any reasonable person is against whatever violence or terror acts. They cannot be approved," he added.

The rally was probably the biggest Ingushetia has ever seen in the recent 10 years. It came in the wake of last week's attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which left 12 killed. The magazine published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in its previous editions.

In the first issue after the attack, the French magazine published a new caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, which has triggered a huge wave of rage and protests across the Muslim world. Endi