Sorry, says Hadi after US embassy stormed in Yemen; Morsi pledges protection. Security in US missions stepped up as demonstrations held in many countries Saudi Gazette report
SANA'A/CAIRO – Turmoil linked to an American-made video denigrating Prophet Muhammad (peacebe upon him) spread Thursday to many countries. In Yemen one person was killed as hundreds of protesters attacked the American Embassy two days after assailants killed four Americans in Libya, including the ambassador, and crowds tried to overrun the embassy compound in Cairo. Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi said in a statement that he “extends his sincere apologies to President Obama and to the people of the United States of America” for the attack. He also ordered an investigation into the attack. Several hundred protesters stormed the embassy's compound in Sana'a, brought down the US flag in the courtyard, burned it and replaced it with a black, Islamist banner. Hadi avowed to bring the culprits to justice, saying the attack by a “rowdy crowd” was part of a conspiracy to derail Yemen's close relations with Washington. For a third consecutive day at the American Embassy in Cairo, protesters scuffled with police officers firing tear gas, witnesses said, and the state news agency reported that 13 people were injured. Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi condemned the attack on Libya that killed the American ambassador and vowed to protect foreign embassies in Cairo. Speaking during a visit to the European Union in Brussels, Morsi said he had spoken to President Barack Obama and condemned “in the clearest terms” the Tuesday attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi. He also harshly criticized the movie, which came to attention in Egypt after its trailer was dubbed into Arabic and posted on YouTube. “We condemn strongly ... all those who launch such provocations and who stand behind that hatred,” Morsi said, adding that he had asked Obama “to put an end to such behavior.” “But at the same time we say this cannot be taken as a justification for attacking embassies or consulates,” he said. “The Egyptian state is responsible for protecting embassies and consulates, and the Egyptian people will not engage in these ... unlawful acts.” News reports also spoke of protests in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, Iran, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Bangladesh, Pakistan and many other countries, where the police fired tear gas to disperse crowds. There were also news reports that the authorities in Afghanistan had suppressed Internet access to prevent users from viewing the offending video online in order to forestall protests there. Security was increased at American embassies and consulates around the world while the US urged its citizens abroad to be vigilant. Police in Dhaka, Bangladesh, stopped a march by people who chanted slogans and burned a US flag in protest of the provocative American film. Guards and police special forces were seen carrying assault rifles outside the US Embassy in the Philippine capital, while embassy guards gestured to a photographer to stop taking pictures. The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, strongly condemned the killing of the US Ambassador to Libya along with three other consulate officials in Benghazi. In a statement issued in Jeddah, the OIC Secretary General said that he was shocked by the reprehensible act which could not be condoned on any grounds. He said the violence that had emanated from emotions aroused by a production of a film had hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. The two incidents demonstrated serious repercussions of abuse of freedom of expression that OIC had consistently been warning against. He added that while the film was a deplorable act of incitement, resorting to violence resulting in loss of innocent lives could not be condoned. Many Arab and Muslim countries condemned the attack and violent protests as well as the blasphemous movie which caused the chaos. American flags were flowing half-mast at many official buildings in the US and its missions abroad.
