Somalis protest France cartoon and Macron comments

Hundreds of protesters marched in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Wednesday to protest remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron defending cartoons in a French satirical magazine which are seen by some as insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.

Protesters dragged the French flag through the streets before setting it on fire, urging Muslims around the world to unite in a boycott of French products.

Demonstrations have been taking place in several countries after Macron refused to condemn the caricatures on several occasions.

The issue has once again come to light following the killing of a Paris schoolteacher who was beheaded by a radical Islamist last week after showing the cartoons to his class.

Muslim politicians, religious scholars and everyday people have condemned such depictions as a form of hate speech and view them as sacrilegious and insulting to Islam.

One protester in Mogadishu accused the French president of trying to "defame our prophet", and warned the Macron and the French people "will not be able to win in your battle, you will fail".

Another argued that Macron "must be punished".