Anti-Islam Film: Protests Spread Across Asia

Demonstrations are taking place in Muslim countries around the world in a day of protests against a film mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

:: Pakistan

One protester was wounded when a cinema guard opened fire as angry crowds armed with clubs and bamboo poles stormed the Shama cinema, known locally for showing films considered to be pornographic.

Demonstrators smashed the windows of the cinema and set it on fire.

Kashif Mahmood, a Pakistani TV reporter, has claimed his driver, Mohammad Amir, was killed when police fired to disperse the crowd.

He said three bullets hit the vehicle, including one that critically wounded Amir, who later died at a hospital.

Dr Mukhtar Khan, head of the Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, said: "We have received 15 wounded so far. They include three police officials. Some have received bullet wounds.

"Some were hurt by tear gas and others suffered injuries due to the pelting of stones by protesters."

The Pakistan government called an impromptu public holiday to allow people to protest "peacefully" against the film Innocence Of Muslims, which has triggered angry demonstrations in Muslim countries around the world.

There was violence in Rawalpindi, twin city of Islamabad, as around 150 demonstrators on the main road to the capital pelted cars and police with stones and burned down a booth at a toll plaza, police official Mohammad Munir said.

The United States has paid for adverts on Pakistani television which show US President Barack Obama and US Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton denouncing the film.

But the president has also suggested Islamist extremists are manipulating the protests for their own ends.

"What we do know is that the natural protests that arose because of the outrage of the video was used as an excuse by extremists to see if they could directly harm US interests," he said.

:: France

Meanwhile, security has been tightened in France after a satirical magazine published drawings featuring the Prophet Mohammed naked.

French authorities declared street protests had been banned and interior minister Manuel Valls said there would be a crackdown if the ban was challenged.

"There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up," he said.

Charlie Hebdo magazine has said the cartoons were merely designed to satirise the international furore over the film, and the pictures have yet to cause public disorder in France.

But French embassies, schools and cultural centres have been shut in 20 Muslim countries, on orders from French authorities, and the magazine's offices have been put under police guard.

Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Council, described both the film and the cartoons as "acts of aggression". But he appealed to French Muslims not to take to the streets to protest.

:: Bangladesh

About 10,000 Bangladeshis took to the streets of Dhaka, outside the country's National Mosque, shouting slogans and carrying placards.

A mock coffin of President Obama was burnt and a mock execution was held of the creator of the film Innocence Of Muslims.

The protesters also set fire to a French flag as they carried placards stating "Obama, you are a cheater!" and "Protest the disgrace of Prophet Muhammed!" About 90% of Bangladesh's 153 million people are Muslims. 

:: Sri Lanka

In the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, up to 2,000 Muslims were reported to have burnt effigies of Mr Obama

One of the protest organisers, Mujibur Rahman, said Muslims in Sri Lanka "have come to the streets today to join with Muslims all over the world" to protest against the film's insults to Islam and Prophet Mohammed.

He threatened to continue protests if the "US fails to ban this film and arrest its creators". 

:: North Africa

Tunisian authorities banned all demonstrations on Friday and in the Libyan city of Benghazi, where US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed last week, but protests were being planned.

Lebanese Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites took part in protests in the southern port city of Sidon, where Sunni clerics called "a day of rage" against insults to the Prophet Mohammed but urged followers to contain their anger to inside the mosques.

:: Malaysia

About 3,000 Muslims marched on the US embassy, burning an American flag topped with the Jewish Star of David. Although there was no violence, angry demonstrators declared their willingness to sacrifice their lives to defend the honour of the Prophet Mohammed and warned "there will be consequences" over the film.

"We will not allow the prophet to be insulted. We are willing to sacrifice our lives and property," said Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, an official with the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, which spearheaded the march.

:: Indonesia

Indonesians staged anti-French and anti-American protests in the capital Jakarta. Protesters gathered outside US and French embassies, which were closed on the Muslim holy day amid fears of violence.

Demonstrators targeted American fast food outlets, and there were minor scuffles with police.

In Medan, North Sumatra province, dozens of protesters from the hardline Islamic Defenders Front burnt an American flag outside the US consulate.

:: Afganistan

Afghan protesters took the the streets and shouted slogans while riot policemen kept watch, during a demonstration in Kabul.