It is a Friday of revolt in the Islamic world. In many countries protests are multiplying against the now infamous film on the life of Mohammed entitled "The Innocence of Muslims", produced in the United States and accused of blasphemy. The most violent clashes are recorded in Sudan: Three people died in front of the US embassy in Khartoum, but US staff are safe. In the same city, the diplomatic representations of Great Britain and Germany are also under attack. The German embassy was set on fire by rioters.
In Tripoli, in the north of the Lebanon, a crowd of 300 Islamic extremists attacked and set fire to a restaurant of the American chain KFC, only to clash with the security forces. The toll is one dead and 25 injured. The attack took place in the same hours in which Pope Benedict XVI began a historic pastoral visit to the country in Beirut.
In Egypt, in Cairo, the clashes between the forces of order and the demonstrators are spreading to the artery that runs along the Nile, at the height of the US embassy. Armored police cars advance firing tear gas canisters to repel protesters.
Still in North Africa, a Tunis, the flag at half-mast inside the US embassy was removed by protesters, who managed to overcome the barrier and climb the outer walls. A column of black smoke billows from the building under attack.
The protest against the blasphemous film also exploded at Gaza. Thousands marched along the streets of the city and in Rafah, despite Hamas yesterday inviting citizens not to join the demonstrations scheduled after Friday prayers. Holding the flags of Hamas itself and the jihad movements, thousands of people shouted "Death to America, death to Israel."
Demonstrations have even reached Indonesia and Malaysia. About 500 Islamic fundamentalists took to the streets today in Jakarta against the "declaration of war" contained - according to them - in the film about Mohammed. The crowd is gathered in front of the American embassy in Indonesia, the most populous of the Muslim countries. Even in Malaysia, another Muslim-majority country in Asia, a few dozen people demonstrated by marching to the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that about fifty US Marines are on their way to the Yemen to protect the embassy and diplomatic staff.
