FIVE men have been arrested for their alleged involvement in last month's Muslim cartoon protests.

The five were alleged to have to taken part in the protest on February 3 outside the Danish Embassy in London.

Four of the men were arrested at their London homes this morning, in Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Southall and Waltham Forest. The fifth man was arrested at his West Midlands home.

They are being questioned at a central London police station, while the fifth is being questioned at a police station in the West Midlands.

Last week police said arrests would be made "in the near future" over the protests against cartoons that depicted the prophet Muhammad as a terrorist.

Riots erupted around the world after the caricatures first appeared in a Danish newspaper.

Specialist officers gathered more than 60 hours of video evidence of the protests, but made no arrests at the time. The Met also received more than 500 complaints about the protests.

A file was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide if anyone should face criminal charges. Their advice was forwarded to police last Tuesday.

Omar Khayam, 22, who dressed like a suicide bomber at the protest, was later arrested for breaking parole conditions.

He was freed early from serving a five-and-a-half year prison sentence for drugs offences.

Marchers also brandished placards with slogans such as: "Butcher those who mock Islam," and "Britain you will pay - 7/7 is on its way."

In the wake of the protests the Prime Minister's office said it would back any police action.

Cross-party MPs and a range of Muslims called for arrests of those responsible on the grounds that their threats were incitement to murder.