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Muslims in fury over anti-Islam US movie
Source: Agencies |
September 18, 2012, Tuesday
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HUNDREDS of protesters demonstrating against an anti-Islam film torched a press club and a government building in northwest Pakistan yesterday, sparking clashes with police that left at least one person dead.
Rioting demonstrators battled with police outside a US military base in Afghanistan and the US Embassy in Indonesia.
In Lebanon, the Shiite militant group Hezbollah was planning a large protest in Beirut yesterday, after its leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the US must be held accountable for the film and protesters should demand that Arab governments put pressure on Washington to put a stop to it.
The movie portrays Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. Protesters have directed their anger at the US government, insisting it should do something to stop it, though the film was privately produced.
Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on the West to block the film to prove they are not "accomplices" in a "big crime."
Several hundred demonstrators in Pakistan's northwest clashed with police after setting fire to the press club and government building.
Police charged the crowd in the town of Wari, beating protesters back with batons. The demonstrators then attacked the office of a senior government official and surrounded a local police station.
One protester died when police and demonstrators exchanged fire, and several others were wounded.
Elsewhere in Pakistan, hundreds of protesters clashed with police for a second day in the southern city of Karachi as they tried to reach the US Consulate.
Police lobbed tear gas and fired in the air to disperse the protesters, who were from the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. Police arrested 40 students, but no injuries were reported. One protester was killed and over a dozen were wounded in similar clashes in Karachi on Sunday.
Pakistanis have also held many peaceful protests against the film, including one in the southwest town of Chaman yesterday attended by around 3,000 students and teachers.
In neighboring Afghanistan, hundreds of people burned cars and threw rocks at a US military base in the capital Kabul. Many in the crowd shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to those people who have made a film and insulted our prophet."
Protests broke out in several parts of the city. On the main thoroughfare, demonstrators burned tires, shipping containers and at least one police vehicle before they dispersed. Elsewhere in the city, police shot in the air in a bid to hold back a crowd of about 800 protesters and prevent them from pushing toward government buildings situated downtown.
More than 20 police officers were slightly injured, most by rocks.
In Jakarta, hundreds of Indonesians clashed with police outside the US Embassy, hurling rocks and firebombs and setting tires alight, marking the first violence over the film seen in the world's most populous Muslim country.
At least 10 police officers were rushed to hospital after being pelted with rocks and attacked with bamboo sticks. Four protesters were arrested and one was admitted to hospital.
Demonstrations were also held in the Indonesian cities of Medan and Bandung yesterday.
Over the weekend in the central Java town of Solo, protesters stormed KFC and McDonald's restaurants, forcing customers to leave and management to close the stores.
Rioting demonstrators battled with police outside a US military base in Afghanistan and the US Embassy in Indonesia.
In Lebanon, the Shiite militant group Hezbollah was planning a large protest in Beirut yesterday, after its leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the US must be held accountable for the film and protesters should demand that Arab governments put pressure on Washington to put a stop to it.
The movie portrays Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. Protesters have directed their anger at the US government, insisting it should do something to stop it, though the film was privately produced.
Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on the West to block the film to prove they are not "accomplices" in a "big crime."
Several hundred demonstrators in Pakistan's northwest clashed with police after setting fire to the press club and government building.
Police charged the crowd in the town of Wari, beating protesters back with batons. The demonstrators then attacked the office of a senior government official and surrounded a local police station.
One protester died when police and demonstrators exchanged fire, and several others were wounded.
Elsewhere in Pakistan, hundreds of protesters clashed with police for a second day in the southern city of Karachi as they tried to reach the US Consulate.
Police lobbed tear gas and fired in the air to disperse the protesters, who were from the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. Police arrested 40 students, but no injuries were reported. One protester was killed and over a dozen were wounded in similar clashes in Karachi on Sunday.
Pakistanis have also held many peaceful protests against the film, including one in the southwest town of Chaman yesterday attended by around 3,000 students and teachers.
In neighboring Afghanistan, hundreds of people burned cars and threw rocks at a US military base in the capital Kabul. Many in the crowd shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to those people who have made a film and insulted our prophet."
Protests broke out in several parts of the city. On the main thoroughfare, demonstrators burned tires, shipping containers and at least one police vehicle before they dispersed. Elsewhere in the city, police shot in the air in a bid to hold back a crowd of about 800 protesters and prevent them from pushing toward government buildings situated downtown.
More than 20 police officers were slightly injured, most by rocks.
In Jakarta, hundreds of Indonesians clashed with police outside the US Embassy, hurling rocks and firebombs and setting tires alight, marking the first violence over the film seen in the world's most populous Muslim country.
At least 10 police officers were rushed to hospital after being pelted with rocks and attacked with bamboo sticks. Four protesters were arrested and one was admitted to hospital.
Demonstrations were also held in the Indonesian cities of Medan and Bandung yesterday.
Over the weekend in the central Java town of Solo, protesters stormed KFC and McDonald's restaurants, forcing customers to leave and management to close the stores.
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