The cartoons, which first appeared in a Danish daily before being printed by newspapers in other countries, have angered Muslims across the globe. Demonstrators in the region have attacked Danish and Norwegian missions. Three people, including a young boy, also died yesterday during violent protests in Pakistan against the cartoons published in European newspapers, security officials said. The boy was killed when a bullet fired during a protest hit him in the head in the northwestern city of Peshawar, but it was not clear if the shot was fired by police or protesters, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A man was killed when an electricity pole fell down during a protest in the same city, the official said. Another man died in crossfire between police and students at the Punjab University campus in the eastern city of Lahore, where a police went to rescue an officer who had been abducted by protesters, Police Superintendent Hussain Habib Gill said. He said it was not known who had fired the shot that killed the man. He said the officer had been rescued, but students had broken both his legs.

Moreover, western firms in the Middle East said yesterday they were wary of attacks or protests relating to worldwide uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, but saw no immediate danger. Protesters attacked Western businesses in Pakistan on Tuesday and police used teargas in Islamabad?s diplomatic enclave in the latest violence over the drawings, first printed last year by a Danish newspaper.

Embassies of European countries in Damascus, Beirut and Tehran ? among them France, Germany, Britain, Denmark and Norway ? have been also been attacked.

<B>?Plans for dealing with terrorist attacks?</B>

David Claridge, managing director of London-based Janusian Security Risk Management, said firms were advising staff to restrict their movements, with some postponing business trips to the Middle East. ?With the kind of clients we?re dealing with, there?s been a sensible, measured response,? he said. ?It?s been about keeping your head down and not overly exposing people to risk, rather than kneejerk reactions.?

Security is already tight in Gulf Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, where al Qaeda sympathisers have targeted Western residential compounds and energy targets in a campaign launched in 2003 to bring down the US-allied Saudi monarchy. ?We considered upping our security, but we have good security as it is,? said an official from a Scandinavian firm operating in Saudi Arabia, where most firms who have imported Western labour maintain their own security detail. Saudi authorities frown upon public protest and none have been seen there in response to the cartoons row.

Danish-Swedish firm Arla Foods, which has suspended operations at its Riyadh factory, reported one stone-throwing incident against a van. ?All Western companies and embassies already have stringent security measures in place. They all have plans for dealing with terrorist attacks, so people angry over cartoons is not a threat to them,? a Western diplomat said. ?There have been no random attacks on Westerners in Saudi Arabia outside the big terrorist attacks, and there are some 60,000 Westerners here in all.?

Saudi clerics have kept the cartoon issue alive with angry sermons demanding trials against those who insult Islam and declaring that apologies from Denmark are not enough. Islamic tradition generally prohibits images of the Prophet. The drawings became an issue for Muslims around the world after Saudi Arabia, site of Islam?s holiest shrines, last month recalled its ambassador to Denmark in response to pressure from clerics and a popular boycott of Danish products.

Tension is already high in the region as Arab opposition groups accuse their US-allied governments of not doing enough to challenge Western foreign policies including the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and Washington?s backing of Israel.

?We are taking our precautions, but I feel fairly safe in Syria,? said Norwegian ambassador Svein Sevje, whose mission was torched by Syrian protesters this month. In Qatar, where an Egyptian rammed an explosives-laden car into a theatre popular with Westerners last year, businessmen had few concerns. In the United Arab Emirates, where over 80 % of the 4 million population are foreigners, diplomats advise caution. ?We are urging our dependents to remain alert,? one diplomat said.

The fresh demonstrations came despite a ban on protests in Punjab announced by its chief minister, Pervez Elahi, who said on Tuesday that violators faced ?an iron hand?.