Protests erupt worldwide over anti-Islam film
Arab News
Protesters break windows at the US embassy in Sanaa on Thursday. (AFP)
Thursday 13 September 2012
SANAA: Protests by Muslims angry at an anti-Islam film erupted across the Middle East and South Asia on Thursday, with hundreds of activists storming the US Embassy compound in Yemen’s capital and burning the American flag.
The protesters breached the usually tight security around the embassy and reached the compound grounds but did not enter the main building housing the offices. Once inside the compound, they brought down the US flag, burned it and replaced it with a black banner bearing Islam’s declaration of faith — “There is no God but Allah.
Protests were also held in Bangladesh, Morocco, Iran and Iraq, while Egyptians clashed with police outside the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
The protests followed the violent attack on the US Consulate in Libya's city of Benghazi, which protesters set on fire before killing the US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
In Iraq, a militia that carried out some of the most prominent attacks on foreigners during the Iraq war threatened US interests in the country.
“The offense caused to the messenger (Prophet Muhammad) will put all American interests in danger and we will not forgive them for that,” Qais Al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Al-Haq militia, said.
In Morocco’s largest city Casablanca, between 300 and 400 Muslim activists gathered outside the US consulate, amid a heavy police presence, some shouting anti-US slogans, including “Death to Obama!"
Hundreds of supporters of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr also held a protest in the city of Najaf to voice their protest.
The demonstrators, circled by security forces, shouted slogans hostile to the United States and Israel, an AFP correspondent reported from the city, 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Baghdad.
Sadr, in a statement, urged the Iraqi government to summon the US ambassador and to impose a ban on visitors from the United States. He also called for “Christians around the world to condemn such actions as this film.”
Sanaa attack
Before storming the grounds of the US Embassy in Sanaa, demonstrators removed the embassy’s sign on the outer wall, set tires ablaze and pelted the compound with rocks.
It was similar to an attack on the US Embassy in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Tuesday night.
In Egypt, protesters were clashing with police near the US Embassy in the capital Cairo for the third day in a row.
The violence has raised worries that further protests could break out around the Muslim world as anger spreads over the movie.
Yemeni security forces who rushed to the scene fired in the air and used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and were eventually able to drive them out of the compound. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was inside the embassy at the time of the attack.
The Yemeni Embassy in Washington condemned the attack and vowed to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats and to step up security measures around their missions in the country.
Yemen is home to Al-Qaeda’s most active branch and the United States is the main foreign supporter of the Yemeni government’s counterterrorism campaign. The government on Tuesday announced that Al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader in Yemen was killed in an apparent US airstrike, a major blow to the terror network.
The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” came to attention in Egypt after its trailer was dubbed into Arabic and posted on YouTube. The video-sharing website blocked access to it Wednesday.
Apology
In Bangladesh, about 100 people burned the US flag and chanted slogans in Dhaka to register their protest.
The demonstrators, mostly students at Islamic seminaries, hit the flag with shoes before setting it ablaze in front of the Baitul Mokarram Mosque, Bangladesh’s biggest mosque.
“America should apologize immediately and arrest the people who’ve made the film,” Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf, head of Bangladesh Khalefat Andolon, a small Islamic party that organized the rally, told the crowd.
He said the US embassy in Dhaka could be targeted and called for nationwide protests after Friday prayers.
Bangladesh police said they had boosted security at the embassy to prevent any repeat of violence that left four Americans including the US ambassador dead in Libya on Tuesday.
'Death to America!'
In Tehran, up to 500 protesters chanted “Death to America!” and death to the movie’s director as they marched near the Swiss embassy, which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran diplomatic ties.
Hundreds of police and security personnel prevented the crowd from approaching the diplomatic compound, which had been evacuated by Swiss diplomats as a precaution.
Iranian news agencies said the demonstration was called by the Student Islamic Society, a hard-line university group loyal to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that has held anti-Western rallies in the past.
US media initially cited someone claiming to be an American-Israeli calling himself Sam Bacile as saying he made the film on a $5 million budget with the help of 100 Jews, but no record of such a person has been found.
US President Barack Obama, in a telephone call to Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi on Wednesday, said he “rejects efforts to denigrate Islam, but underscored that there is never any justification for violence against innocents and acts that endanger American personnel and facilities.”
Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani responded by saying: “Obama’s comments that he respects the Muslim culture is a big and bold lie. The Americans and the Zionists do not tolerate other religions and cultures.”
Western embassies in Iran maintain a high level of vigilance over any protests.
Canada last week closed its embassy, citing concern over the safety of its diplomats.
In November last year, the British embassy was stormed and ransacked during a state-organized demonstration, prompting London to close that mission and order Iran’s diplomats out of Britain.
In 1979, in the wake of Iran’s Islamic revolution, protesters overran the US embassy in Tehran, taking 52 diplomats and other Americans hostage for 444 days. That incident led to the rupture of Iran-US ties.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
Arab News
Protesters break windows at the US embassy in Sanaa on Thursday. (AFP)
Thursday 13 September 2012
SANAA: Protests by Muslims angry at an anti-Islam film erupted across the Middle East and South Asia on Thursday, with hundreds of activists storming the US Embassy compound in Yemen’s capital and burning the American flag.
The protesters breached the usually tight security around the embassy and reached the compound grounds but did not enter the main building housing the offices. Once inside the compound, they brought down the US flag, burned it and replaced it with a black banner bearing Islam’s declaration of faith — “There is no God but Allah.
Protests were also held in Bangladesh, Morocco, Iran and Iraq, while Egyptians clashed with police outside the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
The protests followed the violent attack on the US Consulate in Libya's city of Benghazi, which protesters set on fire before killing the US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
In Iraq, a militia that carried out some of the most prominent attacks on foreigners during the Iraq war threatened US interests in the country.
“The offense caused to the messenger (Prophet Muhammad) will put all American interests in danger and we will not forgive them for that,” Qais Al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Al-Haq militia, said.
In Morocco’s largest city Casablanca, between 300 and 400 Muslim activists gathered outside the US consulate, amid a heavy police presence, some shouting anti-US slogans, including “Death to Obama!"
Hundreds of supporters of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr also held a protest in the city of Najaf to voice their protest.
The demonstrators, circled by security forces, shouted slogans hostile to the United States and Israel, an AFP correspondent reported from the city, 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Baghdad.
Sadr, in a statement, urged the Iraqi government to summon the US ambassador and to impose a ban on visitors from the United States. He also called for “Christians around the world to condemn such actions as this film.”
Sanaa attack
Before storming the grounds of the US Embassy in Sanaa, demonstrators removed the embassy’s sign on the outer wall, set tires ablaze and pelted the compound with rocks.
It was similar to an attack on the US Embassy in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Tuesday night.
In Egypt, protesters were clashing with police near the US Embassy in the capital Cairo for the third day in a row.
The violence has raised worries that further protests could break out around the Muslim world as anger spreads over the movie.
Yemeni security forces who rushed to the scene fired in the air and used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and were eventually able to drive them out of the compound. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was inside the embassy at the time of the attack.
The Yemeni Embassy in Washington condemned the attack and vowed to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats and to step up security measures around their missions in the country.
Yemen is home to Al-Qaeda’s most active branch and the United States is the main foreign supporter of the Yemeni government’s counterterrorism campaign. The government on Tuesday announced that Al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader in Yemen was killed in an apparent US airstrike, a major blow to the terror network.
The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” came to attention in Egypt after its trailer was dubbed into Arabic and posted on YouTube. The video-sharing website blocked access to it Wednesday.
Apology
In Bangladesh, about 100 people burned the US flag and chanted slogans in Dhaka to register their protest.
The demonstrators, mostly students at Islamic seminaries, hit the flag with shoes before setting it ablaze in front of the Baitul Mokarram Mosque, Bangladesh’s biggest mosque.
“America should apologize immediately and arrest the people who’ve made the film,” Shah Ahmadullah Ashraf, head of Bangladesh Khalefat Andolon, a small Islamic party that organized the rally, told the crowd.
He said the US embassy in Dhaka could be targeted and called for nationwide protests after Friday prayers.
Bangladesh police said they had boosted security at the embassy to prevent any repeat of violence that left four Americans including the US ambassador dead in Libya on Tuesday.
'Death to America!'
In Tehran, up to 500 protesters chanted “Death to America!” and death to the movie’s director as they marched near the Swiss embassy, which handles US interests in the absence of US-Iran diplomatic ties.
Hundreds of police and security personnel prevented the crowd from approaching the diplomatic compound, which had been evacuated by Swiss diplomats as a precaution.
Iranian news agencies said the demonstration was called by the Student Islamic Society, a hard-line university group loyal to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that has held anti-Western rallies in the past.
US media initially cited someone claiming to be an American-Israeli calling himself Sam Bacile as saying he made the film on a $5 million budget with the help of 100 Jews, but no record of such a person has been found.
US President Barack Obama, in a telephone call to Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi on Wednesday, said he “rejects efforts to denigrate Islam, but underscored that there is never any justification for violence against innocents and acts that endanger American personnel and facilities.”
Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani responded by saying: “Obama’s comments that he respects the Muslim culture is a big and bold lie. The Americans and the Zionists do not tolerate other religions and cultures.”
Western embassies in Iran maintain a high level of vigilance over any protests.
Canada last week closed its embassy, citing concern over the safety of its diplomats.
In November last year, the British embassy was stormed and ransacked during a state-organized demonstration, prompting London to close that mission and order Iran’s diplomats out of Britain.
In 1979, in the wake of Iran’s Islamic revolution, protesters overran the US embassy in Tehran, taking 52 diplomats and other Americans hostage for 444 days. That incident led to the rupture of Iran-US ties.
http://MuslimWindow.blogspot.com/
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