[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
International News Title: U.S. Embassy in Yemen Stormed as Protests Over Film Spread Protesters attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Yemen’s capital Sana’a and one was reportedly shot dead, while demonstrators rallied in Egypt and Iran against a film seen as insulting to Islam. The spread of violence follows the killing of the American ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three colleagues during an attack on consular buildings there two days ago. U.S. lawmakers said yesterday that groups tied to al-Qaeda may have been involved. Demonstrators in Sana’a breached the compound’s security perimeter and set two cars ablaze, as security personnel fired into the air to disperse the crowd, said Yousef Al-Ahjan, who joined the rally. One protester was killed and five injured, Al Arabiya television said. Thick columns of smoke rose from the compound’s vicinity. In Cairo, at least 70 people were injured in a third day of clashes near the U.S. embassy, the Health Ministry said, and in Tehran demonstrators gathered outside the Swiss mission, which represents U.S. interests there. The anti-American violence threatens U.S. efforts to establish ties with the new governments that are emerging in the Middle East after last year’s wave of revolts. Yemen and Egypt are longtime U.S. allies, while Libya’s political leaders are drawn from the rebellion against Muammar Qaddafi that was backed by American air power. Yemen’s embassy in Washington said in an e-mailed statement that order has been restored to the embassy complex. It said Yemen will step up security around all foreign missions. Protesters who made a second attempt to storm the embassy today were prevented from getting close to the mission by increased security measures and road blocks. Security forces fired tear gas and live bullets in the air to disperse the crowds. Earlier, protesters smashed windows as they breached the embassy perimeter, pulled down a U.S. flag and burned it, the Associated Press reported. They didn’t enter the compound’s main building. President Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi apologized to President Barack Obama and said the attacks may hurt ties with the U.S. He promised to pursue the perpetrators. Mohammed Ali, a protester who was leaving the compound area, said the demonstrators want the U.S. ambassador to Yemen expelled. He said several were arrested. Haitham al-Sukkari, wearing a paper shoe on his right foot with the U.S. flag printed on it, said he and other protesters planned to return later today for another attempt to storm the embassy. In Cairo, protesters set fire to two police vehicles as authorities tried to keep them away from the U.S. Embassy. At least 16 people were injured and 24 arrested, government officials said. Protesters outside the Swiss embassy in Tehran chanted “death to Israel” and “death to America.” The eruptions across the Middle East, recalling the reaction to the publication of cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish magazine in 2005, were prompted this time by the film ‘The Innocence of Islam,’ extracts from which were posted on YouTube. It portrays Mohammad as a womanizer. For Muslims, any depiction of the prophet is sacrilegious. In Syria, where the U.S. and several European Union embassies have closed because of the uprising, Minister of Religious Endowment Mohammad al-Sayyed said the prophet’s portrayal in the film “constitutes an offense against the values of humanity and a flagrant violation of the alleged democracy of the U.S. and its allies,” the state-run Sana news agency said. The governments of Islamic countries including Egypt and Iran have called on the U.S. to crack down on works that offend religious feelings. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as the country’s strongest political party since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last year, and Islamic parties have gained ground elsewhere in the region. U.S. politicians including Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who heads the Senate intelligence panel, said yesterday that the attack in Libya may have been the work of al-Qaeda. The Pentagon dispatched an anti-terrorism team of 50 U.S. Marines from Europe to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, to safeguard the U.S. embassy there and also assist in evacuating American personnel from Libya, U.S. officials told reporters yesterday.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
The failures in obama foreign policy are now coming home to roost. How that "arab spring" working out for you libs now.
Personally I think it is working out quite nicely, indeed. If the region erupts over a 'film'...imagine the reaction when the bastard state, some of "you people" call israel, attacks Iran.
There are no replies to Comment # 2. End Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|