Afghan protest over anti-Islam film turns violent

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Hundreds of Afghans burned cars and threw rocks at a U.S. military base as a demonstration against an anti-Islam film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad turned violent in the Afghan capital early Monday.

The air was thick with smoke on the Jalalabad road ? a main thoroughfare into the city center where the crowd burned shipping containers and tires. Sirens wailed as fire engines rushed to the scene. At least one police vehicle was burned by the mob, according Daoud Amin, the police chief for Kabul province.

Men grabbed rocks from the roadside and lobbed them at Camp Phoenix, a U.S. military base that lies along the road. More than 20 police officers were slightly injured ? all from being hit by rocks, said Gen. Fahim Qaim, the commander of a city quick-reaction police force.

It was the fourth day of Afghan protests against the film. Privately produced in the United States, the low-budget video portrays Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. The film sparked violent protests in many Muslim countries in recent days, many of them outside U.S. diplomatic posts around the world.

The U.S. Ambassador to Libya was killed during an attack on the consulate in Benghazi last week; protesters have also stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tunis and held violent demonstrations outside posts in Egypt and Sudan. The U.S. has responded by deploying additional military forces to increase security in certain hotspots.

In Kabul on Monday, protesters shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to those people who have made a film and insulted our prophet!"

Police officers shot into the air to hold back about 800 people and prevent them from pushing toward government buildings downtown, said Azizullah, a police officer at the site who, like many Afghans, only goes by one name.

By late morning, the protest on Jalalabad road appeared to be dying down but demonstrations were picking up elsewhere in the city. In the southeastern part of Kabul, about 50 protesters gathered in front of a mosque, shouting "Death to America," said police officer Ahmad Shafiq.

Among the protesters on Jalalabad road was 28-year-old Mohammad Humayun, who called on President Barack Obama to bring those who have insulted the prophet to justice.

"This is not the first time," he said. "All of the time, they (Americans) are creating so much anger among the Muslims by insulting the Quran, insulting Muslims and the prophet of the Muslims."

"People around the world are angry," he added. "It is the responsibility of all Muslims to show reaction whenever they hear any disregard and disrespect."

Wahidullah Hotak, another protester, said the rallies will continue "until the people who made the film go to trial."

In neighboring Pakistan, around 3,000 students and teachers rallied Monday against the film in the town of Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province. The crowd burned an American flag and an effigy of Obama, said officer Mohammad Shahid.

Teacher Abdul Malik said it was an obligation of all Muslims to protest the video, while Abdul Waris, a 12-year-old student who attended the rally, said his teachers told him the U.S. and Israel produced the film. The teachers canceled classes and told the students to go protest

The Afghan government has blocked video-sharing web site YouTube to prevent Afghans from viewing a clip of the anti-Muslim film. Officials have said it will remain blocked until the video is taken down. Other Google services, including Gmail, were also blocked in Afghanistan during much of the weekend and the block continued on some providers Monday.

The wave of international violence began Tuesday when mainly Islamist protesters climbed the U.S. Embassy walls in the Egyptian capital of Cairo and tore down the American flag from a pole in the courtyard.

Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, was killed Tuesday along with three other Americans, as violent protesters stormed the consulate in Benghazi. Obama has vowed that the attackers would be brought to justice but also stressed that the U.S. respects religious freedom.

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Associated Press writer Heidi Vogt in Kabul and Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-protest-over-anti-islam-film-turns-violent-071547027.html

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