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Having gathered there yesterday afternoon, the protesters managed to scale the embassy's walls and tear down the American flag, replacing it with the flag of Islam. Fortunately most of the embassy staff had fled and the ambassador was out of town. One of the demonstrators was asked why the protesters had gathered: "This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made, this is a disgrace." The film is called Mohammed, Prophet Of All Muslims, is co-produced by some Egyptian Coptic Christians – who frequently have tear-ups with Egyptian Muslims – and is unlikely to help heal the sectarian rift. It's also fucking dreadful.
Not wanting to be outdone by their neighbours, some armed militiamen spent yesterday storming the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi and burning it to the ground. It's since been reported that the American ambassador has died in the attack. The militia were then engaged by Libyan security forces and casualties have been reported on both sides.Benghazi has played host to a number of attacks by conservative Islamic militias on symbols they perceive as being "Western" recently, including the desecration of a British WWiI cemetery and a nearby Jewish memorial, where gavestones were smashed. This attack will fuel speculation that certain parts of Libya have fallen into the hands of Salafist (militant Islamist) militias, who are, unnervingly, armed to the teeth.
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