To Muslims the Danish cartoon caricatures of Muhammed might appear paranormal; the face orchestrating the violent reaction, however, is familiar. Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Muslim cleric with ties to terrorists, who fled London last August in fear of a post-7/7 bombing arrest, helped to launch the anti-Denmark demonstrations from his outpost in Beirut after the BBC showed brief images of the cartoons on its evening news bulletin Feb. 2.

Overnight an organization led by Mr. Bakri called al Ghurabaa ("the Strangers"), published an edict against Denmark on its website entitled "Kill those who insult Muhammad." The eight-paragraph declaration condemned the cartoons, along with Denmark's refusal to officially censure them, and concluded: "The insulting of the Messenger Muhammad is something that the Muslims cannot and will not tolerate and the punishment in Islam for the one who does so is death." It remained posted on the group's homepage even after the violence it incited had killed at least five and injured dozens, as followers of Bakri and other radical clerics scorched streets from Iraq to Indonesia.