OTTAWA, Feb. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Muslim students at Canada's St. Mary's University in the eastern port city of Halifax held a rally Thursday to protest against a professor who posted the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on his office door, Canadian television reported.

    Professor Peter March was ordered by the university to remove the cartoons he posted Wednesday, but he said he would post them in his classroom to make a point about freedom of expression.

    A group calling itself the Palestine Solidarity Society at Saint Mary's University organized the rally and released a statement, saying that it does not believe in censorship, but maintains the right to be critical.

    Demonstrators condemned March's action as showing a lack of respect for the Islamic faith.

    Meanwhile, a student newspaper at the University of Prince Edward Island which reprinted the cartoons has also come under strong criticism.

    The drawings were included in 2,000 copies of "The Cadre" that were distributed on campus Wednesday. University administration promptly ordered the papers taken off the stands, saying publication of the controversial cartoons was a "reckless move."

    On Thursday, the leader of the Muslim Council of Montreal, the country's second largest city, called on the federal and provincial governments to condemn the cartoons, and urged calm in the rest of the world.

    "We must not allow Islamophobia to be spread under the illusory blanket of freedom of speech," Salam Elmenyawi said at a news conference.

    The cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper and more recently reprinted across Europe and other parts of the world, have led to violent protests in which at least 11 people have been killed.

    Western media insist that they exercise their right to free speech by publishing the cartoons. Islam considers any image of the Prophet Mohammad blasphemous. Enditem