Protests over editorial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad turned violent in the Syrian capital on Saturday as demonstrators set fire to the Danish and Norwegian embassies.

Some of the thousands of people who had rallied outside the buildings stormed inside, angry over the satirical depictions of the Prophet that appeared in a Danish newspaper.

Firefighters try to put out flames after demonstrators stormed the Danish Embassy in Damascus and set fire to it. (AP photo)

Later, protesters also tried to storm the French Embassy in Damascus, but riot police held them back by spraying them with water.

Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators at the other sites, but they managed to break through the barriers.

It's not clear if anyone inside the embassies was hurt.

Islamic law, based on clerics' interpretation of the Qur'an, forbids any depictions of Islam's holiest figure to prevent idolatry.

The cartoons were originally published in Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten in September, but publications in Norway, France and Germany have since reprinted some of them to show solidarity over freedom of speech issues.

The Danish newspaper published an apology for the cartoons on Jan. 30. The drawings "were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize," the daily said.

Three of the 12 drawings were reprinted in a Jordanian newspaper on Thursday, alongside an editorial questioning whether the angry reaction to them in the Muslim world was justified.

The editor who wrote the editorial, Jihad Momani, was fired on Friday and, despite a letter of apology, arrested Saturday on charges of blasphemy, according to Jordan's state prosecutor.

The cartoons, including one depicting Muhammad with a turban-shaped bomb on his head, have sparked protests across the Middle East.

In Gaza City, some 400 demonstrators hurled stones at a European Commission building and stormed a German cultural centre, smashing windows and doors. Riot police were brought in to disperse the crowds."

Tsk, tsk! It makes me wonder what this world is coming to.

It's crazy. Why is there so much violence in the world? Why can't we all just take a chill pill or something and get along? All those middle east countries with all the suicide bombers and whatnot... they say that they are not in favor of this stuff... that means that they obviously don't like it, so why don't they do something about it? If it is a religion of peace then they should prove it by cracking down on all those terrorists and stuff... it's kind of contradictory when they say they are not in favor of it but don't do anything about it. I don't know... I don't have all the answers... maybe someone else does, but I sure don't.