Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Protests against anti-Islam film continue in Asia

BANGKOK/PARIS/JERUSALEM: Protests against the anti-Islam film spread to Thailand and Indian-held Kashmir on Tuesday, while an insurgent group in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for a suicide attack it says was in response to the video.

The US Embassy in Bangkok closed at midday, ahead of the planned protest, but said it was not aware of any specific threat to Americans in Thailand. The protests in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, also turned violent as stone-throwing demonstrators clashed with police.

Meanwhile, al Qaeda’s North African branch issued a statement calling for more attacks against US diplomats in retaliation for the low-budget film that mocks Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The group specifically threatened attacks in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania. Demonstrations and violence have hit around 20 countries since last week, when the American ambassador in Libya and three of his staff were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

Also on Tuesday, officials in Bangladesh said the country blocked access to YouTube in order to prevent people from seeing the video.

Pakistan ordered its own block on Monday after Google, which owns the video-sharing website, refused to remove the clip. Google has barred access to the video, itself, in Libya, Egypt, Indonesia and India. On Monday, the leader of the Shia group Hezbollah called for sustained protests in a rare public appearance before thousands of supporters at a rally in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Syed Hassan Nasrallah accused US spy agencies of being behind events that have unleashed a wave of anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim and Arab world.

Washington has sent ships, extra troops and special forces to protect US interests and citizens in the Middle East, while a number of its embassies have evacuated staff and are on high alert for trouble.

The man, allegedly behind the private film, was questioned on Saturday by US authorities in California.

Separately, calls surfaced on Tuesday on social networks for Muslims in France to defy an official ban and hold fresh protests over an anti-Islam film that has sparked violent reactions across the world.

The messages on Twitter and other sites called for demonstrations to be held Saturday in Paris, Marseille and other major cities, a week after police in the capital arrested 150 people for taking part in a rowdy protest near the US embassy.

It was not clear who was behind the appeal that comes after France’s interior minister said he would prevent any further such demonstrations taking place.

“These protests are forbidden. Any incitement to hatred must be fought with the greatest firmness,” Manuel Valls said on Sunday.

He said that among the roughly 250 protesters on Saturday there were some groups that “advocate radical Islam”, but they were not representative of the moderate Islam practised by most Muslims in France.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians protesting against the anti-Islam film clashed with Israeli border police in east Jerusalem on Tuesday, hurling stones and firebombs at a checkpoint, the military and reporters said. The protesters marched from the Shuafat camp toward a crossing that connects east and west Jerusalem where they confronted Israeli security forces, they said.

“About 200 youths threw stones and firebombs at the checkpoint, they were warded off by the forces at the site who used tear gas,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.

“It is currently quiet there, no police were injured and there have been no arrests so far,” she added. An AFP correspondent said at least 20 demonstrators were wounded by tear gas and rubber bullets fired by border police. agencies

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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