1 Dead in Pakistan in Anti-Islam Film Protest

Posted September 17th, 2012 at 7:05 am (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

Officials in northwest Pakistan say a protester has died in a clash with police during a demonstration against an anti-Islam film. Authorities say the protester died Monday in the Upper Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Muslims say The Innocence of Muslims insults the Prophet Muhammad. It has prompted a wave of protests across various countries, including last week in Libya where the U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. staffers were killed.

Western embassies across the Muslim world are on high alert for violence stemming from the film.

Nearly 1,000 demonstrators staged a protest Monday in Afghanistan's capital, shouting “death to America” as they burned cars and tires in Kabul near a U.S. military base.

Indonesian protesters threw fire bombs as they clashed with police outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta.

There was also a demonstration in the Indonesian town of Medan.

The U.S. says it will close its embassy in Bangkok Tuesday because of a large planned demonstration against the film. A message on the embassy's website urged U.S. citizens in Thailand to “exercise caution…particularly in large crowds.”

On Sunday, hundreds of Pakistanis protesting the film clashed with police as they tried to march toward the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Karachi. And in Lahore, about 5,000 people protested against the film. Peaceful demonstrations were held in several other cities in Pakistan.

A small group of activists burned an American flag outside the U.S. embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday.

The man allegedly behind the obscure, private film was questioned Saturday by U.S. authorities in California.