Clashes mark Pakistan anti-video protests

At least one person has died as demonstrations against an anti-Islam
video erupt across Pakistan, a day after protesters tried to storm the
US embassy in the capital, Islamabad.

Angry demonstrators set
fire to two cinemas in the northwestern city of Peshawar, police and
witnesses said on Friday, as the country began a day of protests.

One protester was wounded when a cinema guard opened fire as crowds
armed with clubs and bamboo poles converged on the Firdaus picture
house, "smashing it up and setting furniture ablaze", according to Gohar
Ali, a police officer.

Witnesses said a separate rampaging crowd stormed the Shama cinema,
notorious locally for showing films considered to be pornographic.

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis were expected to take to the streets
across the country after the government called an impromptu public
holiday to let people protest.

Police on alert

The protests followed clashes
on Thursday as security forces used tear gas and live rounds to
disperse protesters close to the US embassy in Islamabad.

"Thousand of people have already gathered and more are expected to
join in the next half an hour as Friday prayers conclude across the
city," Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder reported from the city on Friday.

"The most important thing here will be whether these protesters are
able to get close to the diplomatic area as they did yesterday in
battles with the police.

"The military have taken their position and the police are on alert.
They will be trying to avoid a situation like yesterday from happening
again."



In Karachi, police told AFP news agency they were on maximum alert
and that bomb-disposal squads were sweeping planned locations of
protests.

"All the entry and exit points of the city are heavily guarded.
Helicopters are on stand-by for aerial surveillance," Fayyaz Laghari,
provincial police chief, said.

"We have deployed our maximum police force to the sensitive parts of the city to ensure security during protest rallies today."

Friday was designated a "day of expression of love for the prophet"
by the government, which called for peaceful protests against the Innocence of Muslims video produced in the US.

All the major political parties and religious groups announced protests, as did many trade and transport organisations.

Large crowds were expected to turn out after Friday prayers.

The US hopes the ad would show that the country had no involvement with the controversial internet video.

The US embassy in Islamabad spent about $70,000 to run the
announcement, which features clips of Barack Obama, the US president,
and Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, underscoring US respect for
religion and declaring the US government had nothing to do with the
video.

Obama is shown saying: "Since our founding, the United States has
been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to
denigrate the religious beliefs of others."

Clinton then says: "Let me state very clearly, the United States has
absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its
contents. America's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the
very beginning of our nation."

"In order to ensure we reached the largest number of Pakistanis, some 90 million as I understand it in this case with
these spots, it was the judgment that this was the best way to do it."

Addressing a media briefing on the ad campaign, Victoria Nuland,
state department spokeswoman, said the aim was "to make sure that the
Pakistani people hear the president's messages and the secretary's
messages".

The announcement aired as the US asked its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Pakistan.

الموضوع الأصلي : Clashes mark Pakistan anti-video protests

المصدر : ملتقى الجزائريين والعرب