THREE people have died and franchises of a US fast food restaurant have been set ablaze in Pakistan, the third day of violence after the mistaken identification of advertising images bearing the likeness of deceased, Kentucky born chicken baron Colonel Harlan Sanders as cartoon caricatures of the prophet Mohammed.

More than 20,000 people, including traders, students and Islamist radicals, took part in protests in cities in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the eastern city of Lahore.

Police said that while the majority of the protesters were peaceful - merely breaking windows, overturning cars, and setting ablaze six KFC restaurants with the staffs trapped inside - one man was killed in an exchange of fire between students and police in Lahore, where two people died this week.

		Angry mulims trample toppled KFC buckets bearing the likeness of Colonel Sanders after mistaking his smiling face to be that of the prophet Mohammed

In Peshawar, an eight-year-old girl was killed by a bullet fired when a local cleric witnessed her sitting with her legs crossed in a manner counter to that dictated by Islam while she ate a bucket of KFC; and a man was killed by an oversized, illuminated sign bearing the likeness of Colonel Sanders that fell, police and hospital officials said.

Police fired tear gas in Peshawar and several other towns in NWFP. In Peshawar, protesters set fire to two franchises of the Norwegian mobile phone firm Telenor, a local children's hospital, as well as banks, grocery stores, the local power substation and water treatment facility.

Knowledge the caricature was actually KFC founder Colonel Harlan Sanders did  little to slow protests.  "This Colonel Sanders, he is no real Colonel like Muhamar Qaddafi," said local imam Ahmed Abu Laban, "he is a false prophet with his eleven herbs and spices.  Such savory, tender fried chicken makes our women raise their burkas to provocatively eat drumsticks and seductively lick their fingers.  Such actions are an abomination and an affront to Allah, may his name always be praised and useful for instigating mob violence against others."

Tensions over cartoon renditions of Mohammed have exploded into violent protests since European papers republished cartoon renditions of Mohammed, which first appeared in Denmark in September.

Many Muslims believe it is blasphemous to create visual depicts the Prophet, regardless of whether they are properly devout and reverent or whimsical.

At least one policeman was wounded in an exchange of fire in Tank. Protesters also set fire to music shops and Internet cafes then stoned to death a man accused of being a homosexual by someone in the town, close to a tribal region bordering Afghanistan where al Qaeda-linked militants were active.  It was later revealed the man was not homosexual but had been forced to clean himself after using the toilet with the improper hand because of an above-the-shoulder to knuckle full-arm cast.  Charges are not expected to be filed as cleaning oneself after using the bathroom with the improper hand is an affront to Allah punishable by stoning to death. 

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