Monday, September 17, 2012

Western embassies on high alert

Western embassies across the Muslim world are on high alert and the United States has urged vigilance after days of anti-American violence provoked by a film about Prophet Mohammed.

Embassies in Kabul's heavily guarded central zone were placed on lockdown, including the US and British missions, after violence flared near fortified housing compounds for foreign workers in the city's volatile eastern suburbs.

It was the latest in a week of violent protests fanned by anger over a video, posted on the Internet under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims", that mocked the Prophet Mohammad and portrayed him as a womanizer and a fool.

The head of Libya's national assembly said an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans last Tuesday looked like a planned assault by a "group with an agenda" rather than a spontaneous reaction to the video posted online.

With protests against the film continuing from London to Lahore yesterday, Western diplomatic missions were on edge. Germany followed the US lead and withdrew some staff from its embassy in Sudan, which was stormed on Friday.

The United States ordered non-essential staff and family members to leave its embassy on Saturday after the Khartoum government turned down a US request to send Marines to bolster security.

Non-essential US personnel have also been withdrawn from Tunisia, and Washington urged US citizens to leave the capital Tunis after the embassy there was targeted on Friday.