Anti-Islam Film: Nineteen Killed in Pakistan

Pakistani officials said 19 people have been killed in protests against an anti-Islam film - including a dozen in Karachi.

The fatalities came as demonstrations swept across the world on Friday over a US made film denigrating the Prophet Mohammed. At least 49 people have died overall in violence linked to the movie, including the US ambassador to Libya.

Amid the latest unrest, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reminded governments of their "solemn duty" to protect diplomatic missions.

She said: "They must be safe and protected places."

:: Pakistan

Tens of thousands protested around the country after the government encouraged peaceful protests and declared a national holiday - "Love for the Prophet Day".

But demonstrations turned violent as police and protesters clashed in several Pakistani cities - including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

Five people were killed in Peshawar and 14 in Karachi. At least three of the dead were policemen.

One of the dead was identified as Mohammad Amir, a driver for a Pakistani television station, who was killed after police opened fire on rioters torching a cinema in Peshawar.

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.

:: Germany

Several hundred people gathered in the city of Freiburg in southwest of Germany to protest the film. Police banned inflammatory slogans.

Some carried banners saying: "The dignity of the Prophet Muhammad is our dignity."

The Interior Ministry postponed a poster campaign aimed at countering radical Islam among young people due to tensions caused by the US-made video.

Posters for the campaign - in German, Turkish and Arabic - were meant to go on display in German cities with large immigrant populations on Friday, but are being withheld because of the changed security situation.

:: Iraq

About 3,000 people, mostly followers of Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim groups, protested against the film and French cartoons in Basra.

Demonstrators carried Iraqi flags and posters of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, chanting "death to America" and "no to America."

:: United Kingdom

Some 100 people gathered near the Bullring in Birmingham on Friday afternoon, although the motive of the protest is unclear. No violence has been reported.

:: 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.

:: Lebanon

Thousands gathered in the Bekaa valley for the latest in a series of protest rallies organised by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Protesters carried the yellow Hezbollah flag.

:: 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

About 900 people have gathered for a protest against the film in the capital, Kabul, chanting "death to America" and burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and an American flag.

A few hundred demonstrators also protested inside a mosque in the eastern city of Ghazni. The protests were peaceful.