DAMASCUS, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Hundreds of Syrian demonstrators stormed and set fire to the Danish Embassy in Damascus on Saturday in a protest against cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad which were first published by a Danish newspaper.

    Saturday's demonstration in front of the Danish Embassy in downtown Damascus went on peacefully at first, but angry protestors later stormed the embassy building and set it on fire, said witnesses.

    The protestors chanted "God is Great" and burned the Danish flag and replaced it with another flag reading "No God but Allah, Mohammad is His Prophet.

    Fire engines and riot police rushed to the embassy building, in front of which gathered hundreds of passers-by after the protestors receded, said a Xinhua correspondent at the scene.

    The facade of the building, which also houses the Swedish and Chilean missions, were tarred and the first floor, where the Danish Embassy is located, was destroyed and fumes can still be seen coming from the ruins, the correspondent added.

    It was not immediately clear whether any casualties were caused, but the Danish Embassy was closed on Saturday.

    Security measures were stepped up at foreign missions in Damascus and more riot police, wearing white helmets and holding shields, surrounded the U.S. embassy, only several kilometers away from the Danish mission.

    Some demonstrators marched in the main Mezza street, causing a traffic jam there. They then pushed forward into the wealthy Eastern Mezza Area, where resided many western missions.

    Earlier this week, the Danish Embassy was reportedly evacuated from an anonymous telephone bomb threat.

    Embassy personnel returned to the building after an hour-long search by security forces who failed to find any explosive device.

    The cartoons were first published by the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, last September and republished in Norway last month and then in some other European newspapers.

    One of the cartoons depicts the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.

    Damascus has recalled its ambassador from Denmark for consultation over the matter, the official SANA news agency reported on Wednesday.

    Earlier this week, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the cartoons as an offense to Muslims and Arabs and demanded the Danish government punish the offending paper.

    The Danish ambassador to Syria met late Thursday with Syria's grand mufti Sheikh Ahmed Badr al-Dean Hassoun and conveyed Denmark's apology for the offense caused by the cartoons.

    SANA quoted the Danish ambassador as saying that the majority of the Danes were very sorry for this situation which the newspaper has put them into.

    According to Islamic tradition, realistic depict ions of prophets were prohibited and caricatures of them were considered profane. Enditem