Thousands pack Niger mosque to protest war in Iraq

About 5,000 Muslims crammed into a mosque Thursday to protest the U.S.- led war in Iraq after authorities blocked their plans to demonstrate outside the American embassy.

"This war in Iraq could create hatred and mistrust among people, civilizations, cultures and religions at the very moment that the world is working toward a real dialogue," announced spiritual leader Cheikh Mohamed Ag Ahmadou, chairman of the Association of Islamic Organization in Niger.

The crowd, twice the mosque's regular capacity, cheered and shouted "Allahu Akhbar," or "God is great."

The war could spark "extremist tendencies among Muslims, Christians and Jews, corrosive to the spirit of peace and tolerance in the world," Ahmadou said.

State security forces patrolled outside Niger's second-largest mosque, twirling truncheons. But the anti-war demonstration Niger's first since the United States and Britain invaded Iraq last week ended with no reported arrests or injuries.

Landlocked, impoverished Niger is the world's third-largest producer of mined uranium. About 80 percent of its 11 million citizens are Muslim.