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Afghan officials were quoted as saying the violence was being instigated by elements opposed to the effort to rebuild the country, most of which was ruled by the Islamist Taliban militia until it was toppled by U.S.-led forces after the 9/11 terror attacks.

Referring to the rioting in Jalalabad, Myers said the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Lt.-Gen. Karl Eikenberry, had called into question a link between the violence and the Koran issue, saying it seemed to be related to that country's political process and "not at all tied to the article in the magazine."

Protests spread to the Afghan capital, Kabul Thursday, but despite calls of "Death to America" ended calmly. In two cities across the border in Pakistan, students at religious seminaries and other Muslims also demonstrated, denouncing America and demanding that U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.

A six-party alliance of Islamic groups in the country, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), called for countrywide anti-U.S. rallies Friday.

Pakistani media quoted MMA leaders as saying the Newsweek report had sent a wave of anger across the Islamic world, and demanding that President Bush apologize to the world's Muslims.

MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmad said he was sending messages to Islamic movements around the world urging them to organize protests at the end of May.

He also called on Islamic preachers to focus on the issue during their Friday sermons.

In a swipe at Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf - a U.S. ally in the war against Islamist terror - Qazi said governments in the Muslims world should take note of the "heinous" crime and reverse their "pro-U.S. policies."

The torching of the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, he said, was a "logical" consequence of Musharraf's pro-American stance.

A Pakistani daily, The Nation, said in an editorial that the government "must seriously review its foreign policy since its blind cooperation in the so-called war on terror has not only caused widespread resentment domestically but also damaged its image internationally, especially in the Ummah [the Islamic world]."

Public opinion in Pakistan has already been stirred up in recent days by the publication in the Washington Times of an editorial cartoon depicting a U.S. soldier patting a dog labeled "Pakistan," and saying: "Good boy ... now let's go find bin Laden."

The cartoon referred to the capture in Pakistan of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, described as the number three figure in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network.

Publication of the cartoon caused an uproar in Pakistan, with opposition lawmakers demanding apologies and calling variously for Musharraf to quit and to review relations with the U.S.

In an editorial Tuesday, the Washington Times portrayed the issue as a cultural misunderstanding and said its dog-loving cartoonist "meant no offense or injury" to the people of Pakistan.

"In the West ... we regard the dog as one of God's greatest gifts, one of the noblest expressions of patience, loyalty, kindness and devotion," it said.

Last July, Al-Jazeera said a recently-released Guantanamo Bay detainee claimed to have seen a U.S. soldier at the Kandahar detention facility in Afghanistan - not at Guantanamo Bay - throwing a copy of the Koran into a toilet.

An online search of news reports around the time of the Arabic television network's "exclusive interview" found no reference to protests erupting in response to the ex-detainee's claims.

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