As the United States continued to strengthen security at diplomatic stations, fury over an anti-Islam film spread to Australia, where demonstrators clashed Saturday with police outside the American Consulate in Sydney.
Carrying signs that read: “Obama, Obama, we like Osama” and “Behead All Those Who Insult the Prophet,” hundreds of protesters gathered on the steps of the consulate.
The demonstration turned violent after protesters were pushed back from the building.
Authorities used tear gas and police dogs to disperse protesters who threw bottles and shoes — considered a grave insult among Muslims. Six police officers were injured and eight people were arrested, Sydney police said. Seventeen people were treated for the effects of pepper spray used by police.
In his weekly address, U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged “images on our televisions are disturbing.”
“But let us never forget that for every angry mob, there are millions who yearn for the freedom and dignity and hope that our flag represents,” Obama said.
Obama reiterated that those who killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi will be brought to justice.
FBI investigators probing the killings put off a visit until conditions in the volatile region are safer.
Agents had hoped to arrive in Libya on Saturday, federal law enforcement officials said.
Disagreement over how Benghazi attack began
Top Western diplomats warned leaders in countries where the unrest has been most pronounced to ensure the protection of its missions and its people.
“I am following the unfolding events with grave concern and call on national authorities in all countries concerned to swiftly ensure the security of diplomatic missions and protect diplomatic staff,” Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign affairs chief, said in a statement.
U.S. Marines were dispatched to Libya, Yemen and Sudan to safeguard American diplomatic posts, according to U.S. officials.
Slain ambassador returns Inside the U.S. consulate in Benghazi Egyptians demand apology from Obama
Attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya
Protest targets German embassy in Sudan America’s mixed message to Egypt The search for the Benghazi attackers Egyptians demand apology from Obama Libya struggling to deal with militants Does U.S. need to up security abroad?
Capital cities and other cities in North Africa and the Middle East where protests against an anti-Islam film have broken out.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the United States would take action to protect its diplomatic facilities if the countries in question did not stop the violence and seek justice for the attacks.
“Reasonable people and responsible leaders in these countries need to do everything they can to restore security and hold accountable those behind these violent acts,” she said Friday. “And we will … keep taking steps to protect our personnel around the world.”
From Morocco to Malaysia, thousands of Muslims have taken to the streets in recent days — with sometimes deadly results — over the release of a 14-minute trailer, privately produced in the United States, that mocks the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester and ruthless killer.
Despite the firm condemnation by U.S. government officials, some in the Muslim world — especially those raised in regimes in which the government must authorize any film production — cannot accept that a movie like “Innocence of Muslims” can be produced without being sanctioned by Washington, said Council of Foreign Relations scholar Ed Husain.
“They’re projecting … their experience, their understanding (that) somehow the U.S. government is responsible for the actions of a right-wing fellow,” said Husain, a senior fellow at the New York think thank
for more see – Anti-American fury over film hits Australia; protesters clash with police – CNN.com.
