The Siege of the Western Embassies
(Times World) Enraged by Innocence of Muslims, an amateur film mocking the Prophet Muhammad, thousands of protestors took to the streets of Khartoum, Sudan on Friday after weekly prayers to demand the United States ban the film. They started by demonstrating outside the German and British embassies in downtown Khartoum. The protestors then stormed the compound of the German embassy and tore down flags to replace them with Islamic banners, smashed windows, and set parts of the embassy on fire. Following the burning of the German embassy, protestors blocked the road to deny access to firemen, according to local journalists. They then made their way to the U.S. embassy down the street, where security forces fired shots to repel protesters. At least five people died during protests — state media claims two of these fatalities were due to a car crash — and dozens were injured. While initial reports suggested that there was a widespread breach of the U.S. embassy perimeter, this was not the case. Some U.S. government property was damaged. But U.S. officials maintained control of the embassy compound and accounted for all mission personnel. As it was Friday, the weekend in the region, Western embassy staff was not on their compounds, and most embassies had already increased security following protests across the region on Wednesday. When TIME asked one member of the ‘Sudan Change Now’ (SCN) opposition group, highly active in the July anti-government protests, whether he participated in the protests yesterday he laughed down the phone. “There is no way I would participate in such nonsense,” he told TIME on condition of anonymity. “There are much bigger problems in our country than a stupid film. This will only distract attention from the real problems at hand like unemployment and political oppression.” On Friday SCN released a statement condemning the film and the ensuing violence. In the statement it condemned “any disrespect to all religions and denounced the producers and directors of this film and everyone involved in any way in its publication and promotion.” However, the group also condemned “the violence and destruction as unacceptable. Uncivilized means of expressing opinions against this film and their use represents a crime against the entire community.” Another group, the Islamist Popular Congress Party (PCP), led by Hassan Al-Turabi, also blamed the violence on the authorities. “We hold the authorities responsible for what happened and they have to protect diplomatic missions and their staff from the aggression of those who offend Islam by such kind of actions,” the PCP statement said. SCN blamed the violence on the “policies of purposeful misinformation and propaganda.” The group accused El Teyeb Mustafa, leader of the far-right Just Peace Forum (JPF) and owner of the group’s Al-Intibaha newspaper, for instigating the protesters to come out in front of the embassies. SCN also raised suspicions regarding the level of force used outside the U.S. embassy compared to constraint used at the German embassy when was set on fire. “Police clearly showed no efforts then to control the situation,” the group said. Earlier, the U.S. and German ambassadors had been summoned by the foreign ministry to discuss the film. “In our opinion, freedom of speech has limits and when it touches our Islamic sanctities and figures it becomes unacceptable” Undersecretary Rahmat Allah Mohammed Osman told state media. Wael Saifuddin Ali, a media activist in Khartoum, said he was concerned for the safety of westerners who he felt were at danger of violence from ignorant youth. “Media has an important and very powerful role to play and should be educating people and especially the Sudanese youth that violence is not the way ahead,” Ali told TIME. “Instead, we don’t have such educational media.” In response to the demonstrations, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called Sudan’s counterpart, Ali Osman Taha, to express concern over the security of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum. “Vice President Biden reaffirmed the responsibility of the government of Sudan to protect diplomatic facilities and stressed the need for the government of Sudan to ensure the protection of diplomats in Khartoum,” read a press statement. Germany has closed all embassies in the region as well as in Afghanistan and Pakistan. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said security had been increased at certain embassies with additional security officers being deployed.
Catherine Ashton Condemns Violent Attacks against Diplomatic Missions
Catherine Ashton, The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission issued the following statement on 14th September condemning in the strongest terms the attacks against diplomatic missions in several countries which are part of a wave of violence and have now led to the loss of lives and destruction of property in several cities. I want to state very clearly that there can be no justification for such violence. Catherine Ashton added that she condemns those who use religion to fuel extremism. She said she is following the unfolding of events with grave concern and call on national authorities in all countries concerned to swiftly ensure the security of diplomatic missions and protect diplomatic staff. It is vitally important that leaders across the affected regions should call immediately for peace and restraint, as has already been the case in many countries. Catherine Ashton called on all governments and the religious and secular leaders to promote tolerance and dialogue.
Three killed as Sudanese storm U.S., German Embassies
(Reuters) Up to three people were killed when Sudanese police clashed with thousands of protesters who broke into the U.S. embassy and raised an Islamic flag on Friday in protests against a film that denigrates the Prophet Mohammad, state media said. More than 5,000 people also gathered to storm the German embassy and attack the nearby British mission to protest against the film, which depicts the Prophet as a womanizer and a charlatan. Police fought demonstrators for more than an hour in front of the heavily fortified U.S. embassy outside Khartoum but retreated after a police car struck a demonstrator and left him on the ground in a pool of blood. Sudanese state radio said three people had been killed during the clashes but a police statement carried by the state news agency SUNA put the death toll at two, and said 50 policemen had been injured. As news of the deaths spread, the protesters turned their anger on the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is facing growing dissent over an economic crisis and corruption. “The people want to topple the regime!” chanted the demonstrators. As police pulled back under a hail of rocks, protesters jumped the outer wall of the U.S. embassy, a vast compound comprising several buildings and tiers of fences. After several protesters clambered onto a balcony and hoisted a black Islamic flag, guards sitting on roofs inside the embassy fired warning shots. A U.S. embassy spokesman said no embassy staff had been injured and that the protesters had all been expelled. Earlier, police had fired tear gas to try to scatter around 5,000 demonstrators who had surrounded the German embassy and nearby British mission in the tightly-controlled center of Khartoum. However, a Reuters reporter later saw policemen standing by when protesters entered Germany’s mission and stayed there for more than an hour. Two officers even helped protesters to climb down from the first floor, where they had smashed windows. Protesters raised a flag emblazoned with the Islamic profession of faith, “There is no god but God and Mohammed is his prophet”. They smashed windows, cameras and furniture in the German complex and then started fires inside and outside, witnesses said. “I am the first who stormed the embassy,” said a young man who gave his name as Abu Bakr Awad, proudly waving three keys he said he had found in the reception area. “We set the embassy on fire, we set it on fire,” he shouted. Firefighters arrived to put out the flames. German embassy staff were safe “for the moment”, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Berlin. He also told Khartoum’s envoy to Berlin that Sudan must protect diplomatic missions on its soil, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
Attacks on embassies in wake of anti-Islamic film
(The Guardian) A wave of anger that saw British, German and American embassies in Khartoum attacked by rioters swept across the Muslim world with violent scenes playing out on streets from north Africa to south-east Asia. The continuing demonstrations have claimed further lives. Two protesters were killed in Khartoum, Sudan and two more in Tunis, Tunisia. Friday’s worst violence was in the Sudanese capital, where protesters targeted the German embassy first, storming through the outer wall and setting fire to buildings and a car near the gates before they were pushed back by police firing teargas. German diplomats fled to the British embassy next door, which became the next target of the mob. William Hague, the foreign secretary, said: “Sudanese police attended the scene, but demonstrators were able to break down a perimeter wall and cause minor damage to the compound. They did not attempt to gain access to the British embassy building.” No staff had been harmed, he added. Reports said at least one of the rioters had been killed in clashes with police. The US embassy in Khartoum, which appears to have been the next target, announced that protesters had been expelled from its compound. The embassy attacks in Sudan marked the first time anti-US protests over the film had mutated into a broader anti-western revolt. In his statement on the events in Khartoum, Hague said: “The neighbouring German embassy, which appeared to be the focus of the attack, was set on fire and severely damaged. We remained in close contact with the Germans throughout the incident and were able to offer shelter to German diplomats. I am pleased to say that they are also safe.” The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, denounced the film as “disgusting and reprehensible”.
Al-Qaida calls for more attacks on embassies
(Associated Press) Al-Qaida’s most active branch in the Middle East called for more attacks on U.S. embassies to “set the fires blazing,” seeking to co-opt outrage over an anti-Muslim film even as the wave of protests that swept 20 countries this week eased. Senior Muslim religious authorities issued their strongest pleas yet against resorting to violence, trying to defuse Muslim anger over the film a day after new attacks on U.S. and Western embassies that left at least eight protesters dead. In Sudan, crowds torched part of the German Embassy and tried to storm the American Embassy. Protesters climbed the walls into the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, torching cars in the parking lot, trashing the entrance building and setting fire to a gym and a neighboring American school. So far, there has been no evidence of a direct role by al-Qaida in the protests. The United States sent an elite, 50-member Marine unit to Yemen’s capital to bolster security at the embassy there, which protesters broke into on Thursday and then tried again to assault Friday. A similar team was dispatched to Tripoli, Libya, on Wednesday after the deadly attack the night before on the Benghazi consulate. But the Sudanese government said Saturday it had refused to allow a similar Marine deployment to the embassy in Khartoum. Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti declined the request, saying Sudan is capable of protecting diplomatic missions, the state news agency said.
U.S. Orders Embassy Non Essential Staff to leave Tunis and Khartoum
(Reuters) The United States ordered non-essential staff to leave its embassies in Tunisia and Sudan on Saturday after both diplomatic posts were attacked and Khartoum rejected a U.S. request to send a platoon of Marines to bolster security at its mission there. “Given the security situation in Tunis and Khartoum, the U.S. State Department has ordered the departure of all family members and non-emergency personnel from both posts, and issued parallel travel warnings to American citizens,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. The U.S. embassies in Tunis and Khartoum were attacked on Friday by protesters infuriated by a widely disseminated anti-Islamic film, made in the United States, that insults the Prophet Mohammad and has provoked a violent reaction across the Muslim world. In Khartoum, around 5,000 people protesting against the film stormed the German embassy before breaking into the U.S. mission on Friday. They also attacked the British embassy and at least two people were killed in clashes with police, according to state media. A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that Washington would send Marines to Sudan to improve security at the embassy, which is located outside Khartoum for security reasons. But Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti told the state news agency SUNA, “Sudan is able to protect the diplomatic missions in Khartoum and the state is committed to protecting its guests in the diplomatic corps.” The top security body in the Khartoum region said that “the surveillance and protection of embassy, mission and foreign residential buildings has been stepped up to prevent any dangers,” said the state-linked SudaneseMediaCenter. Sudanese and U.S. officials said on Saturday that the Marines had already set off for Khartoum but had been called back pending further discussions with Sudan. The United States had “requested additional security precautions as a result of yesterday’s damage to our embassy,” said Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman. “We are continuing to monitor the situation closely to ensure we have what we need to protect our people and facility.” A riot police truck was parked in front of the deserted German embassy, which protesters had set on fire. But an Islamic flag raised by the crowd was still flying. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has been under pressure from Islamists who feel the government has given up the religious values of his 1989 Islamist coup. The Sudanese government had called for protests against the film, but peaceful ones. U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration said it had nothing to do with the movie, which is little more than an amateurish video clip and appears to have been made in California.
Sudan rejects US request to send Marines to secure Embassy
(Fox News, Associated Press) Sudan has rejected an offer by the United States to send Marines to increase security at the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, amid protesters and police clashing. The announcement Saturday follows the United States saying it was sending Marines to Sudan to bolster security at the embassy, where Sudanese police reportedly fired on protestors trying to scale the compound walls. “Sudan is able to protect the diplomatic missions in Khartoum and the state is committed to protecting its guests in the diplomatic corps,” Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti told the state news agency SUNA, which Reuters reported Saturday. As a result, the deployment has been delayed and possibly curtailed, said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to disclose details on the troop movement. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Sudan’s government “has recommitted itself both publicly and privately to continue to protect our mission,” as obligated under the Vienna Convention. “We have requested additional security precautions as a result of … damage to our embassy,” she said. “We are continuing to monitor the situation closely to ensure we have what we need to protect our people and facility.” The State Department ordered the departure of all family members and non-essential U.S. government personnel from posts in Sudan and Tunisia and issued travel warnings to the two countries due to security concerns over anti-American violence. The department said while Sudan’s government has taken steps to limit the activities of terrorist groups, some remain there and have threatened to attack Western interests. The terrorist threat level remains critical.
Northern State Governor Dies
(Sudan Vision) The Presidency expresses its sincere condolences on the death of the Northern State Governor, Fathi Khalil, who died yesterday in a traffic accident in Al- Silaim area, Dongola, while returning from Merowe Locality. He was buried in Al-Sahafa tombs, Khartoum. The Minister of Health in the NorthernState mentioned the deceased’s virtues, stressing that he did his duty in an impartial, courageous and patient manner. His main concern was to develop the NorthernState and its citizens, but he had multiple roles in addressing the country’s issues. Al-Amin Abdul Gadir, Commissioner of the state, called the death of Fathi Khalil a huge loss, as he was one of the righteous sons of Sudan. The commissioner addressed his remarkable deeds and his role in the country’s political action. Fathi Khalil was born in 1947 in Wadi Halfa. He graduated in the University of Khartoum, Faculty of Law, in 1973. He worked as a lawyer from his graduation until his election as head of the Sudanese Bar Association in 1993. He was elected as governor of the NorthernState in the 2010 election.