The United States and
Germany closed some diplomatic facilities in expectation that protests
could intensify after weekly prayer services Friday.
Since September 11, when
protesters breached the
U.S. Embassy in Cairo and a separate protest in
Libya ended in the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and
three other Americans, Muslims have staged protests in more than 20
countries.
The protests have focused
on the film "Innocence of Muslims," as well as cartoons published by
the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, and heavy criticism of the United
States and Western cultures for allowing what Muslims view as
unacceptable smears against their faith.
Protesters burn cinemas in Pakistan
Pakistan's interior
minister warned that the government will take "strict action" in
response to the destruction of property after protesters in Peshawar,
Pakistan, set fire to two movie theaters Friday morning, killing one
person and injuring dozens, according to officials.
"We have also alerted the
army; if things get worse, they will come in," Rehmam Malik told
reporters Friday afternoon in Islamabad. "I said it yesterday and I'm
saying it again, we mean business."
Firefighters extinguished
one of the Peshawar theater blazes in about 90 minutes but were not
able to get to the other one, said Nadir Shah, a fire brigade official.
At least 25 people were
injured, three of them critically, said Majid Qureshi, a doctor at a
local hospital. A member of the media was also shot in killed in the
protest, Qureshi said.
Peshawar police said four policemen were also injured.
The protests blossomed despite the suspension of cell phone service Thursday night.
Crowds of protesters were reported in Islamabad, and CNN affiliate Geo TV reported protests in Rawalpindi and Karachi.
The protests come a day
after about 100 children in Karachi chanted anti-American slogans during
a protest in the coastal Pakistani city, a police official said.
Video showed children repeating an adult voice that said "Death to America" and "Any friend of America is a traitor."
Hezbollah protest in Lebanon
Supporters of Hezbollah,
a militant Islamist group deemed a terrorist organization by the United
States, marched Friday in a peaceful demonstration "in support of the
Prophet Mohammed," Hezbollah TV channel al-Manar reported Friday.
Video showed a stream of
people marching slowly down the streets with signs reading, "Loyalty
and the victory of the Prophet Mohammed."
Diplomatic facilities close
The U.S. Embassy in
Jakarta, its consular offices in Surabaya and Bali and two other
facilities were closed Friday because of the "potential for significant
demonstrations that might be held in front of these facilities."
officials said in a news statement.
Germany also closed its
embassy in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum on Friday in anticipation of
protests over the cartoon published in Charlie Hebdo, state-run
Ashorooq TV reported.
"Security measures have been tightened at other diplomatic missions abroad," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.
Tunisian authorities ban all demonstrations Friday
Seeking to avoid a
repeat of what happened one week earlier, Tunisia's Interior Ministry
banned all demonstrations Friday, the state-run Tunisian News Agency
(TAP) reported, citing a statement from the ministry.
The report said the
protest ban is "in accordance with the provisions of the state of
emergency" that has been in place since the ouster January of its
longtime president, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.
The statement refers to
"calls launched via social networks" to demonstrate over the Charlie
Hebdo cartoons. And it comes a week after four protesters died and 49
were wounded during an assault on the U.S. Embassy in the capital of
Tunis, TAP previously reported, citing Souad Sadraoui, interim general
director of Charles Nicolle Hospital.
Presidential spokesman
Adnene Mansar denounced Charlie Hebdo's publication of the cartoons as a
"deliberate insult," adding that "some circles are deliberately seeking
to stir up tension in relations binding the Muslim and Western worlds."
"We should not fall in
the trap of provocation, we should rather denounce these acts by
peaceful means," Mansar said, according to a TAP report.
In another TAP report,
National Constituent Assembly Speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar said that the
bloody September 14 protests "do not reflect the mood of the moderate
and tolerant Tunisian people."
"Political, ideological
and religious violence is (no) longer tolerated in present-day Tunisia,"
Jaafar said in Strasbourg in eastern France, calling abiding by the
"rule of law ... an absolute priority."
Culled: CNN
EDITED:LII
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