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Burning flags in Bangladesh
Photo: Reuters

Muslim protests rage on in Nigeria, Bangladesh

Wave of violence sparked by US-made film continues in Pakistan, Nigeria and Bangladesh. Death toll in Pakistan rises to 21 while rioters in Nigeria shout out 'Death to America, Israel'

Protests over the anti-Muslim film said to be mocking the Prophet Mohammed continued in various countries on Saturday. Tens of thousands of Muslims in Kano, Nigeria, shouted "death to America, death to Israel and death to the enemies of Islam" in a procession several kilometers long.

 

US and Israeli flags were dragged through the dirt by protesters.

 

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The Islamic Movement of Nigeria, a pro-Iranian Shia Muslim group, organized the event, which passed off peacefully.

 

"We are out today to express our rage and disapproval over this blasphemous film," Kano protest leader Muhammed Turi said.

 

 (Photo: Reuters)
 

Burning US, Israeli flags in Bangladesh (Photo: Reuters)

 

"This protest is also aimed at calling on the US government to put a halt to further blasphemy against Islam."

 

Meanwhile, thousands of Islamist activists in Pakistan staged new demonstrations as the death toll from the previous day's violent protests rose to 21.

 

More than 5,000 protesters marched towards the parliament in Islamabad, including hundreds of women, chanting "We love our Holy Prophet" and "Punishment for those who humiliated our Prophet".

 

Some 500 people from the hardline Islamist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa staged a protest in front of the US consulate in the eastern city of Lahore, chanting "The US deserves only one remedy – jihad, jihad".

 

In Bangladesh, scores of people were injured in a clash in the country's capital between police and hundreds of demonstrators.

 

Police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse the stone-throwing protesters, who were from about a dozen Islamic groups.

 

The protesters burned several vehicles, including a police van, witnesses said.

 

Dozens of protesters were arrested at the demonstration and inside the nearby National Press Club, where participants took refuge, a Dhaka Metropolitan Police official said on condition of anonymity in line with police policy. Police and witnesses said scores of people were injured.

 

Authorities have banned all protests near the city's main Baitul Mokarram mosque since Friday, when more than 2,000 people marched and burned an effigy of President Barack Obama.

 

The protesters announced a nationwide general strike on Sunday to protest the police action.

 

Protests against the film "Innocence of Muslims", which mocks Islam, have erupted across the Muslim world and tens of thousands took to the streets across Asia and the Middle East Friday as Western missions closed amid fears of violence.

 

AP, AFP and Reuters contributed to this report

 

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.22.12, 17:16
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