JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Sunday that he wasn't totally surprised by protests against cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad, but called for a more "measured" response from the Muslim world.

    Speaking exclusively on South Africa's Carte Blanche program Sunday night on the continent wide satellite channel M-Net, Blair said although most Muslims took a measured response to the cartoons, others did not.

    "What I would say is that (while) the vast majority of the Muslim world has adopted a response that is measured, there are some parts that haven't."

    Blair, who flew to South Africa to attend this weekend's Progressive Governance Summit at a game lodge north of Pretoria, said he was uncertain if the reaction to the cartoons surprised him.

    "I don't know that it has surprised me but I think it is very important to distinguish between two elements here... One is the genuine sense of offense amongst Muslims at the cartoons that is entirely understandable. The other is violence, threatening of individuals, burning of embassies, the attempt to target certain individuals whether from Denmark or elsewhere and that is just completely unacceptable," he said.

    The blasphemous cartoons, which were first published by Danish daily Jyllands-Poste and later reprinted in other European press, provoked violent protests in the Muslim world.

    Although no British newspaper published the cartoons, there have been protests against the images in Britain as well.

    On Sunday, thousands of Muslims staged a peaceful protest on London's Trafalgar Square. Enditem