Five killed in Indian sectarian violence

India has already seen sectarian violence in Gujarat

By Charles Haviland BBC correspondent in Delhi

Five people have been killed in India during a protest against remarks made by US preacher Jerry Falwell about the Prophet Mohammed.

Two of those killed died in police gunfire during the violence in the western town of Solapur which degenerated into sectarian clashes between Muslims and Hindus.

Falwell called the prophet a terrorist

It has become clear that the protests in Solapur were much more violent than earlier police reports suggested.

Two people died when police opened fire on crowds of angry demonstrators - three more were killed in stabbing incidents.

The crowds had gathered in this textile town 450 kilometres (280 miles) south-east of Bombay to protest at last weekend's remarks by Reverend Falwell.

In a television interview he described the Prophet Mohammed as a "terrorist" and a "man of war".

Police sources said the crowd in Solapur suddenly started throwing stones and setting vehicles and shops on fire, then the security forces had started firing.

Other protests

The violence took on a sectarian nature, setting Muslims against Hindus.

The police sources said there were incidents of sectarian violence in the town since the morning but these are now said to have stopped.

A curfew has now been imposed in some neighbourhoods.

In Bombay several hundred people staged another demonstration against the comments by the controversial Baptist preacher, but it went off peacefully.

The sectarian nature of the violence in Solapur will create considerable unease given this year's widespread Hindu-Muslim clashes in another part of western India Gujarat.