 |
| US consulate in Bengasi after raids |
The alleged maker of a provocative anti-Islamic movie that
has sparking violence across the Muslim world was questioned early Saturday by
the police, NBC channel reported.
The local NBC News affiliate said Nakoula Besseley Nakoula
was escorted by sheriff's deputies from his Cerritos, California, home shortly
after midnight for an interview by federal probation officers.
The report said the man emerged wearing a coat, hat, scarf
and glasses.
Officials said the federal officers wanted to find out
whether Nakoula had violated any federal probation.
In February 2009 Nakoula was charged in an alleged bank fraud
conspiracy, the report said. The indictment accused him and others of
fraudulently obtaining the identities and Social Security numbers of customers
at several Wells Fargo branches in California and withdrawing $860 from them.
Nakoula also served a year in jail after pleading guilty to
possession of meth with the intent to manufacture in 1997, NBC News said.
Local police said Nakoula had agreed to the interview prior
to the deputies arriving at his home and that the move was "entirely
voluntary," the report pointed out.
The film depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a thuggish
deviant offended many Muslims, and sparked a wave of anti-American protests
that have cost several lives and seen US missions, schools and businesses set
on fire.
At least six protesters died in Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and
Sudan on Friday as police battled to defend American missions from mobs of
stone-throwers, and Washington deployed US Marines to protect its embassies in
Libya and Yemen.
