Anti-film protests kick off across Lebanon, security boosted

Security was bolstered across the country Friday as protesters took to the streets to demonstrate against a film insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammad. In the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood of Beirut and in the southern coastal city of Sidon, angry protesters burned U.S. and Israeli flags, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” In Sidon, Sheikh Maher Hammoud called on all Muslims capable of killing the filmmaker to do so. “Every Muslim capable of killing the insulter of our religion, the producer of this film, should do so,” the sheikh said, comparing his fatwa to the one issued against Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses.” In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared Rushdie's novel “blasphemous” and called for his death. The Sidon protesters chanted slogans calling for the death of the filmmaker who produced “Innocence of Muslims,” the low-budget film that insults the prophet and has sparked a spate of demonstrations, some of which were violent, against U.S. and foreign missions around the world. In Ras al-Nabaa, demonstrators carrying flags of the Youth Party for Arab Lebanon burned U.S. and Israeli flags, a few miles away from the French Embassy, which was closed Friday. Three separate protests were planned for Friday: one in Beirut organized by Sheikh Ahmad Assir; another organized by Hezbollah in Baalbek, east Lebanon; and the third in the northern city of Tripoli. The French Cultural Center closed its branches in the southern coastal city of Sidon as well as the northern city of Tripoli Friday. French schools across the country also closed Friday. The French cultural centers had announced that they would close Friday, fearing protests in response to the publication Wednesday by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo of cartoons depicting the prophet. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday that his government had stepped up security at embassies in countries where there could be a hostile reaction to the cartoons. Last week in Tripoli, one protester was killed and 15 policemen were injured when stick-wielding and stone-throwing demonstrators protesting “Innocence of Muslims” clashed with Lebanese security. Protestors also set ablaze fast food establishments KFC and Hardee’s, which are housed in the same building. Security around the American Embassy in Lebanon has been boosted since protests over the film erupted. In a rare public appearance Monday, Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah warned of worldwide repercussions if the full version of the movie is released. Currently, a 14-minute preview is available on YouTube, though it is inaccessible in several predominantly Muslim countries. With additional reporting by Mohammed Zaatari From DailyStar