Mr Annan said he shared the distress of Muslims upset by the cartoons but urged them to accept an apology from the Danish paper that first published them. He said he was "distressed and concerned at the whole affair" and appealed for no one to "inflame an already difficult situation".

The leaders of Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia condemned the cartoons, but called on their countries' Muslims to exercise restraint.

"The Indonesian government condemns the printing of the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad. The insult to religious symbols have hurt the feelings of the Muslim," Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, leader of Indonesia - the world's most-populous Muslim nation - told a news conference on Friday.

Yudhoyono said the exercise of freedom of speech was not absolute and could not be allowed to curb other rights or insult others' beliefs. However, he called on Indonesians to exercise restraint and accept an apology made by the Jyllands-Posten for the insult caused to many Muslims.

In a statement, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi branded the publication of the images a deplorable act and a "blatant disregard for Islamic sensitivities". He noted that it was even more regrettable that newspapers in other European countries had reproduced the Danish newspaper's caricatures despite protests in the Islamic world.

Pakistan's parliament on Friday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the cartoon. Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf also expressed outrage, saying the cartoon could not be justified as freedom of expression.

Many Muslims consider any image of the Prophet Mohammad to be blasphemous and offensive.