These BBC stories look at whether the 'cartoon' protests in Pakistan are really about the depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper or if something else is going on.

News:

Fresh cartoon protests in Pakistan (Feb. 16)

Pakistani papers urge defiance over cartoon riots (press round-up)

Analysis:

Hidden motives behind cartoon riots

Some excerpts:

... Given the nature of the violence, few seem convinced the riots are either spontaneous or driven purely by public indignation at the satirical cartoons.

For one, most of the public and private property attacked by the rioters cannot even remotely be linked to the cartoons.

The buildings burned in Lahore and Peshawar included cinemas, a theatre, banks, mobile phone outlets, fast food restaurants, the Punjab assembly building, petrol stations, music and video shops.

Most of the vehicles set alight were motorbikes, which are owned mostly by lower middle class people.

The protesters' anger is aimed at all western symbols

Such targets have nothing to do with the cartoons but have historically been the target of choice for religious activists whenever they have had a reason to take to the streets.

Why motorbikes and cars? Because they are readily available - parked on roadsides and unprotected - burn easily and provide the media with fiery images.

Cinemas, fast food joints and banks are also targeted because they represent entertainment, US economic interests and the interest-based Western financial system.

Powerful statement

Attacking such properties makes for a powerful statement of the cultural agenda pursued by almost every Pakistani religious organisation. ...

Western observers may be baffled at the images of Muslim rioters burning the properties of other Muslims in protest at sacrilege committed by Danes.

But they may find the situation easier to understand if they give a thought to what might be the real target of the rioters.

Is it a bunch of nameless and faceless cartoonists living in Denmark or a government at home which is threatening their orthodoxy with its liberal rhetoric?