(Vatican Radio) A new round of protests against the United States took place across
the Muslim world today. In Pakistan, Friday’s government-declared “special day of
love” for Islam’s founder, Muhammad, has seen violent clashes in several places throughout
the country, including the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi. In Peshawar,
protesters attacked and ransacked two cinema buildings. A driver for a Pakistani television
station was killed when police opened fire to disperse protesters, seven of whom were
reported wounded. Listen to our report:
The United
States has taken out advertising space on Pakistani TV, in which clips showing US
President Barack Obama condemning both the film that has provided the pretext for
the violence, and the violent reaction to it:
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. But there is absolutely no justification to this
type of senseless violence. None.
The President’s remarks were originally
delivered on Sept. 12th, in response to the murder of the US ambassador
to Libya and three other diplomatic staffers at the US Consulate in Benghazi, which
was stormed in an incident the Obama administration on Thursday described as an “terrorist
attack”. The television spot also shows US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton distancing
the US government from the film and the film’s message.
Despite the US administration’s
insistence, the US charge d’affaires Richard Hoagland was summoned to the Pakistani
Foreign Office and an official protest was lodged. The US state department has issued
a warning against any non-essential travel to Pakistan.
Elsewhere, as in the
Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, where some 2000 people demonstrated.