As a wave of anti-American riots erupts across the Islamic world... Muslims' U.S. flag burning protests spread to Britain
The terrifying tide of violent protests sweeping the Islamic world over an anti-Muslim film hit London yesterday.
Elsewhere British diplomats were in fear for their lives, with staff at the embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, locking themselves in as 5,000 angry demonstrators raged and lit fires in an attack on the German embassy next door.
In London, 150 protesters marched on the US embassy chanting ‘burn burn USA’ as the American flag went up in flames, soon joined by the Israeli flag.
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There was a call for sharia law to be imposed over Britain. Police made two arrests.
Among the rabble-rousers was notorious demagogue Anjem Choudary, who has led a number of Islamist groups that were subsequently banned.
It came as riots and demonstrations
spread halfway around the globe, from Morocco in the west to Bangladesh
in the east. American embassies and symbols were the primary targets for
fury.
The wave of hate has been sparked by an obscure film called Innocence of Muslims, which was produced in America and has been criticised for ridiculing Islam and depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a fraud, a womaniser and a madman.
The film was apparently produced by a Coptic Christian living in California, using funds raised by radical American evangelicals and Egyptian Coptic Christians.
Since clips were shown on Arab television it has provoked ever-growing outrage, including the murder in Libya on Tuesday of the US ambassador.
But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made clear that ‘the United States government had absolutely nothing to do’ with the video. British diplomats were dragged into the protests after demonstrators stormed the German embassy next door in the Sudanese capital, burning a car and rubbish bins.
The German embassy is believed to have attracted particular ire because Sudan’s foreign ministry had criticised the country for allowing a protest last month by right-wing activists carrying caricatures of the Prophet.
There were no reports of British casualties in Khartoum.
In violence elsewhere, the number of dead and wounded grew. In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli police began shooting, killing one man, after a mob set fire to a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise and an American restaurant. Another 25 were wounded in the chaos.
And there was anxiety for the
safety of Pope Benedict, who had arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut
yesterday for a three-day visit.
In Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, 2,000 protesters set off for the US embassy, only to be stopped short by national security forces firing live rounds, killing one man and leaving 15 injured.
In the Tunisian capital Tunis, several thousand demonstrators threw stones at the US embassy and set fire to cars, before being fought off with tear gas and gunfire. Three were reportedly killed.
In Cairo, Egypt, the mob was
kept clear of the local American mission by riot police, instead
protesting in Tahrir Square. The Muslim half of Jerusalem witnessed a
mob of 400 marching towards the US consulate hurling bottles, but they
were repelled by police.
In Damascus, Syria, a 200-strong crowd demonstrated outside the US embassy – although it was abandoned in February because of the country’s bloody civil war.
In Tehran, Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq, in Jalalabad in Afghanistan, in Istanbul in Turkey, in Bangladesh, in cities across Pakistan, and in Bahrain, protesting crowds limited their anger to chanting and burning US and Israeli flags.
Elsewhere British diplomats were in fear for their lives, with staff at the embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, locking themselves in as 5,000 angry demonstrators raged and lit fires in an attack on the German embassy next door.
In London, 150 protesters marched on the US embassy chanting ‘burn burn USA’ as the American flag went up in flames, soon joined by the Israeli flag.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Wave of hate: Protestors burn the American flag outside the country's embassy in London yesterday
Anger: The demonstrators shouted 'burn burn USA'
as the American flag went up in flames, in response to a recent movie
which portrayed the prophet Muhammad as a womanizer and child abuser
Among the rabble-rousers was notorious demagogue Anjem Choudary, who has led a number of Islamist groups that were subsequently banned.
Firebrand: Choudary is the former UK leader of
the al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK organisation - both of which have been
outlawed under the Terrorism Act
The wave of hate has been sparked by an obscure film called Innocence of Muslims, which was produced in America and has been criticised for ridiculing Islam and depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a fraud, a womaniser and a madman.
The film was apparently produced by a Coptic Christian living in California, using funds raised by radical American evangelicals and Egyptian Coptic Christians.
Since clips were shown on Arab television it has provoked ever-growing outrage, including the murder in Libya on Tuesday of the US ambassador.
But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made clear that ‘the United States government had absolutely nothing to do’ with the video. British diplomats were dragged into the protests after demonstrators stormed the German embassy next door in the Sudanese capital, burning a car and rubbish bins.
The German embassy is believed to have attracted particular ire because Sudan’s foreign ministry had criticised the country for allowing a protest last month by right-wing activists carrying caricatures of the Prophet.
There were no reports of British casualties in Khartoum.
In violence elsewhere, the number of dead and wounded grew. In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli police began shooting, killing one man, after a mob set fire to a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise and an American restaurant. Another 25 were wounded in the chaos.
Fury: Protesters on the road leading to the US embassy near Tahrir Square in Cairo
Too young: A boy holds a toy gun during a
protest about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad in the
Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh near Sidon, Lebanon,
Rage of the mob: Muslims burn an American flag
in Dhaka, Bangladesh as they shout slogans during a protest in front of
National Press Club
In Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, 2,000 protesters set off for the US embassy, only to be stopped short by national security forces firing live rounds, killing one man and leaving 15 injured.
In the Tunisian capital Tunis, several thousand demonstrators threw stones at the US embassy and set fire to cars, before being fought off with tear gas and gunfire. Three were reportedly killed.
Hate preacher: The former solicitor, holding
microphone, joined rallied around 150 hard-line Islamists in a march to
the mission in Grosvenor Square this afternoon
In Damascus, Syria, a 200-strong crowd demonstrated outside the US embassy – although it was abandoned in February because of the country’s bloody civil war.
In Tehran, Iran, in Baghdad, Iraq, in Jalalabad in Afghanistan, in Istanbul in Turkey, in Bangladesh, in cities across Pakistan, and in Bahrain, protesting crowds limited their anger to chanting and burning US and Israeli flags.
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