The revulsion in the Muslim world for a controversial film
about Mohammed has now gone global, with demonstrations that began in Egypt and
Libya now spread through the Middle East and into Africa and Asia.
Fanned by the internet the flames of indignation exploded
after Friday prayers to engulf mainly American targets as tens of thousands
took to the streets. In all six people died in clashes in Tunisia, Sudan,
Lebanon, and Egypt.
In Tunisia the outer walls of the US embassy were breached
and Islamist black flags raised over the building. The nearby American school
was destroyed by fire. Tunisia’s president said the violence was “totally
unacceptable”. Two people died and forty were injured, twenty of them police
officers.
The American embassy in the Sudanese capital Khartoum was
also penetrated by protesters. The US immediately dispatched a platoon of
marines following similar deployments to their Yemen and Libyan embassies. The
German embassy was set on fire.
In Lebanon, where the Pope is currently on a visit, 25
people were injured and one killed in clashes in Tripoli, where reportedly
islamists went on the rampage against American fast-food outlets.
Elsewhere Bangladeshi police prevented a crowd of 10,000
from marching on the embassy in Dhaka, thousands protested in Iran, the West
Bank and Gaza, and there were also rallies in Malasia, Nigeria, Jordan, Kenya,
Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, and Iraq.
To report also an attack to the UK/US base "Camp Bastion" in Helmand province in Southern Afghanistan.
