American School In Tunisia Torched
Geoffrey Ingersoll, Robert Johnson and Rob Wile|Sep. 14, 2012, 11:25 AM|5,990|91 The protests that started in Cairo have spread across the world raising havoc in more than a dozen countries in the Muslim world.
The news today is one of massive chaos: Lots of protests, fires, and reports of killing.
TUNISIA:
BBC: An American school in Tunis was torched, reportedly after being evacuated.
The Guardian's Eileen Byrne says smoke continues to billow from an outbuilding in the American compound there, but that local riot police have kept protesters from storming the main office.
Here's chilling footage of the flag being removed from the U.S. embassy in Tunis:
From CNN:
Protestors broke trees and setting fires inside US Embassy.
Protestors have climbed atop the walls of the U.S. Embassy.
ArabesqueTV reports foreign journalists were attacked.
LIBYA:
Buzzfeed's Michael Hastings reports on an appearance by on Piers Morgan suggesting held up paperwork updating security in Benghazi.
The BBCspoke with a professor who met slain Ambassador Chris Stevens at the State Department's post in Benghazi in the days before the compound was attacked:
"The security [at the consulate] was not enough. I was there in the morning with Chris around 0915 having breakfast but the security was not just insufficient, there was a big lack of security. He had 4 Libyans, 2 of them in front of the door and 2 inside the small room by the fence. It was very normal security measurements as if you were going to a hotel."
BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardener reports security at Benghazi was not the same at other U.S. missions:
"The BBC has been told that the US Consulate in Benghazi which was fatally attacked and gutted on Tuesday was not given the standard security contract offered to most US diplomatic missions in the Middle East. The consulate's walls were breached in just 15 minutes, guards were outgunned and overwhelmed and 4 US personnel were killed, including the Ambassador, Chris Stevens."
White House spokesman Jay Carney says reports that the U.S. had advance warning of the attacks are "absolutely wrong," according to the BBC.
Libyan officials say that "many" have been arrested following investigations into the assault that killed ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three staffers—one information officer and two former Navy SEALs.
Protests kicked off here a day after people gathered in Egypt.
YEMEN:
USA TODAY: Marines have been deployed to Yemen after attacks escalate at U.S. Embassy.
Pentagon Spokesman John Little confirms that Marines have been sent into Yemen to reinforce the U.S. Embassy.
SUDAN:
Reuters now reports protesters have been expelled from the U.S. compound in Khartoum.
"They were all expelled. They didn't get far," the spokesman said when asked about the protesters and how far into the grounds they had reached. He said no embassy staff were injured in the incident.
Al Arabiya reports three people were killed in front of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum.
Protestors bussed from German and U.K. embassies to U.S. embassy.
Al-Jazeera
There are reports of three dead at the protests. According to many twitterers on the ground, the three died when a security vehicle ran them over.
The images from Al-Jazeer are striking.
Thousands of protestors gathered outside of the German Embassy. Protestors jumped the wall and pulled down the American flag, but police dispersed them with tear gas.
Recent reports out say that the German Embassy is on fire and has been completely evacuated.
INDIA:
The Associated Press is reporting that about 15,000 protestors have gathered in the city of Kashmir to protest the video, in what's being called the largest showing yet of any Muslim country. The protestors are shouting
Al Arabiya reports 86 have been arrested.
The State Department and Indian officials are calling for all U.S. citizens to remain out of the city, and if they're visiting the city now, to leave as soon as possible.
Local authorities there have put about five "separatist leaders" on house arrest, a common tactic during civil unrest.
"If America is true in its claim of being against any kind of religious blasphemy, then it should lose no time in taking stern action against these enemies of humanity," said a statement from the Jamat-e-Islami, the biggest Islamic group in Kashmir.
MALAYSIA:
Only a handful of protestors reported here so far, chanting the phrase "Alahu Akbar" or "God is great" outside embassy walls.
Also, they had printed newsletters calling for the American government to punish the producers of the film.
INDONESIA:
A prominent cleric has urged fellow Muslims to remain calm. About 200 showed up outside the embassy to protest.
“We came here because we want the US to punish whoever was involved with the film,” protester Abdul Jabar Umam told reporters of First Post. “They should know that we are willing to die to defend the honor of our Prophet.”
EGYPT:
Protestors gathered here again today, but reports on the ground are that the protests have become more about violence than the film.
Hundreds of protestors are in front of the U.S. Embassy. Police are using tear gas, water hoses, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Several peaceful protestors are farther back, in Tahrir Square, praying.
LEBANON:
Forty armed protestors stormed a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Tripoli, police fired on the group, killing one. There were about 3000 protestors in Beirut.
YEMEN:
The protests have broken up after a brief clash with police.
GAZA:
From Ahram Online:
In Gaza, thousands of people rallied at demonstrations in Gaza City and the southern town of Rafah, a day after the ruling Hamas party urged citizens to turn out for protests after Friday prayers.
Protesters waved the flags of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, and set fire to American flags, chanting "Death, death to America, death, death to Israel."
Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya, in a sermon during Friday prayers, repeated a call on Washington to apologise for the film, produced in the United States.
IRAQ:
Hundred of protesters have taken to Iraqi streets: From CNN:
Angry protesters in the Sadr City district of northeast Baghdad carried banners, Iraqi flags and images of radical Shiite and anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as they railed against what they see as an insult to their faith.
"America is the enemy of the people," the demonstrators shouted Thursday morning. They also yelled out, "Yes, yes to Islam. Yes, yes to Iraq. Yes, yes to Quran" -- the latter referring to the Muslim holy book.
IRAN:
400 Iranians have gathered outside the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. From Russia Today:
They're "protest[ing] against the American-made film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad that has sparked outrage in the world's Muslim community. “Death to the United States and death to Israel and death to England!" was heard over a loudspeaker outside the Swiss diplomatic mission, which represents American diplomatic interests in Iran, following the breakup of diplomatic ties in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Riot police have cordoned off the are, causing traffic jams around the capital as the crowd voiced support for demonstrations in Egypt, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia. Shouts of "Muslims, unite!" and "Mohammad is God's prophet"were heard.
ISRAEL:
Protests have spread to Jerusalem. From yNet:
Hundreds of worshippers leaving the al-Aqsa Mosque after Friday prayers hurled stones at police officers and rioted near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate.
The demonstrators, protesting against the anti-Islam film that sparked riots across the Middle East, started marching towards the US Consulate but were blocked by police officers who used shock grenades against them. Several officers were lightly injured by stones. Some protesters were detained.
JORDAN:
Jordanian authorities are cracking down. From AnsaMed:
The arrest by security forces of well over a dozen peaceful reform activists since September 7, 2012, signals the government's toughening stand toward demands for political reform in the kingdom", Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should release all of those detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights to expression, association, and assembly, Human Rights Watch added.
The security services arrested activists in various parts of the country for peacefully protesting or calling for reform, in what appeared a concerted move by security and judicial authorities against opposition groups, said HRW in a statement. Those arrested include eight activists from the southern town of Tafila, two from Karak, and seven from Amman. All were charged under terrorism provisions, which place them under the purview of the military-dominated State Security Court, three lawyers for the activists told Human Rights Watch. All remain in detention.
Read more:
http://www.businessinsider.com/protses-spread-at-us-german-and-british-embassies-around-the-worldthe-growing-list-of-locations-where-mid-east-protests-are-flaring-up-2012-9#ixzz26SrAnhwR
