Editor's note: Several protests stemming at least in part from an anti-Islam film produced in the United States are unfolding outside U.S. embassies around the world. Friday's protests follow ones Tuesday at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, where attacks killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.
In Tunisia, protesters have scaled a U.S. Embassy gate and set fire to cars on the property, a journalist there says. In Egypt, the influential Muslim Brotherhood canceled nationwide protests planned for Friday, but a running battle between police and protesters in Cairo continued into its fourth day.
Follow the live blog below for all of the developments around the world.
[Updated at 3:04 p.m. ET] A ceremony at Maryland's Joint Base Andrews for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate has ended, and the caskets are being carried to hearses. See the 2:59 and 2:51 p.m. entries for remarks by President Barack Obama, who said the four laid down their lives "in service to us all."
[Updated at 2:59 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama, at a ceremony at Maryland's Joint Base Andrews for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate, added:
"The United States of America will never retreat from the world. We will never stop working for the dignity and freedom that every (person) deserves. ... That’s the essence of American leadership. ... That was their work in Benghazi, and that is the work we will carry on."
At the beginning and toward the end of his remarks, Obama cited the Bible's John 15:13: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Obama said the four killed Americans laid down their lives "in service to us all."
"Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," Obama said.
[Updated at 2:51 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama, at a ceremony for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate, is now eulogizing the four at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Ambassador Chris Stevens, Obama said, "was everything America could want in an ambassador."
"Four Americans, four patriots. They loved this country. They chose to serve it, and served it well," Obama said. "They had a mission they believed in. They knew the danger, and they accepted it. They didn't simply embrace the American ideal, they lived it; they embodied it. The courage, the hope, and yes, the idealism - that fundamental American belief that we could leave this world a little better than before."
Ex-SEALs, online gaming maven among Benghazi dead
[Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET] At a ceremony for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:
"Today we bring home four Americans who gave their lives for our country and our values. To the families of our fallen colleagues, I offer our most heartfelt condolences and deepest gratitude."
She saluted Sean Smith, a computer expert, as someone known as "an expert on technology by colleagues in Pretoria, Baghdad, Montreal and The Hague."
She hailed ex-Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods as someone who protected diplomatic personnel since 2010 "in dangerous posts" around the world.
"He had the hands of a healer as well as the arms of a warrior, earning distinction as a registered nurse and certified paramedic," Clinton said of Woods.
Clinton also hailed the other ex-Navy SEAL, Glen Doherty. "He, too, died as he lived, serving his country and protecting his colleagues."
Clinton said Stevens, as a diplomat, "won friends for the United States in far-flung places.” She thanked his parents, who were at the ceremony, for the "gift" that Stevens was.
The ceremony was at a hangar at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
[Updated at 2:35 p.m. ET] The ceremony for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate has begun. A prayer is being offered. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will speak soon, followed by Obama.
[Updated at 2:31 p.m. ET] Marines at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland are removing from a plane the flag-draped caskets of four Americans killed in the consulate attack in Libya, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. The caskets will be placed at a hangar nearby, and President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will give remarks.
[Updated at 2:28 p.m. ET] We're awaiting a ceremony at which U.S. President Barack Obama will honor the arrival of the bodies of of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Penetta have entered the hangar where the ceremony will take place at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
[Updated at 2:22 p.m. ET] Marines will take the caskets off a plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will give remarks. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will also be present, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.
People are seated at a facility on the base. The caskets will flank the podium from which Obama and Clinton will speak.
[Updated at 1:41 p.m. ET] Three people were killed and 28 wounded during protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Friday, Tunisia state television reported.
[Updated at 1:23 p.m. ET] U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will join Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at this afternoon's "transfer of remains ceremony" marking the return of the remains of the four Americans killed this week in Benghazi, Libya.
Obama and Clinton will deliver brief remarks at the 2:15 p.m. ET ceremony at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
[Updated at 1:15 p.m. ET] Here is video from today's protests in Khartoum, Sudan:
[Updated at 12:23 p.m. ET] Nigerian military and police fired shots to disperse a crowd of protesters in the city of Jos, an eyewitness said.
About 2,000 people protesting the anti-Islamic film gathered at a central mosque, and security forces intervened when the crowd started moving toward the city center.
[Updated at 12:15 p.m. ET] Some protesters who scaled the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, reached a garden outside the building but have not breached the building itself, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reports.
Also, the thick, black smoke that we previously reported was near the Embassy is coming from burning vehicles on the Embassy grounds, Mhirsi reported.
Earlier, he reported that protesters took down a U.S. flag from a pole at the Embassy and replaced it with a black flag. Police were firing tear gas in an attempt to disperse them. (See 10:20 and 10:42 a.m. entries.) Hard-line Muslims known as Salafists were among the demonstrators, Mhirsi reported.
[Updated at 12:06 p.m. ET] Some Friday protests that hadn't yet been mentioned in this blog post:
- In Afghanistan, hundreds of demonstrators in the eastern Nangarhar province burned a U.S. flag and chanted "Death to America" and "We condemn the film." The demonstration lasted about an hour and ended peacefully, a local official said. The Afghan government has ordered an indefinite block of YouTube to prevent people there from watching the clips and staging violent protests.
- In Baghdad, Iraq, hundreds of followers of the radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr chanted "No to America, no to Israel."
- In Jerusalem, Palestinians marched from the al-Aqsa mosque toward the U.S. Consulate, but were prevented from reaching the mission by Israeli riot forces.
- In Syria, hundreds gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Protesters waved placards that condemned the film and blamed the U.S. administration for allowing the production and broadcast of it, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.
- In Iran, the Islamic Propagation Coordination Council called for nationwide rallies Friday to protest the film and what it is calling a U.S.-backed plot against Muslims, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
[Updated at 11:57 a.m. ET] An update on Friday's protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan: Journalist Isma'il Kushkush says no protesters have been able to get inside the compound, and that police and security forces appear to have the situation under control.
Small fires are burning nearby. Kushkush said he believes protesters set tires ablaze. For more on the Khartoum protests, including one at the German Embassy there, see the 9:54 and 8:42 a.m. entries.
[Updated at 11:52 a.m. ET] Ninety-three protesters have been arrested in Egypt since Thursday night, Egyptian Interior Ministry spokesman Alaa Mahmoud said. Forty-eight officers have been injured, he added.
[Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET] Protesters in southern India have been arrested on suspicion of throwing rocks at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, the city police commissioner said. As many as 200 protesters were demonstrating in front of the building, but the number arrested was not reported. There were no reported injuries.
[Updated at 10:57 a.m. ET] Video from Tunisia's capital shows thick, black smoke rising from an area near the U.S. Embassy. It's not clear what was on fire.
Protesters there had taken down a U.S. flag from the embassy property and replaced it with a black flag, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reported. Police fired tear gas at protesters as some of them climbed the property's walls.
[Updated at 10:42 a.m. ET] Protesters have taken down a U.S. flag from a pole at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, and replaced it with a black flag, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reports.
Earlier, Mhirsi reported protesters were climbing the building's gates, and police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse them. (See 10:20 a.m. entry.) Hard-line Muslims known as Salafists were among the demonstrators, Mhirsi reported.
[Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET] A U.S. Marine Corps security team is being sent to help protect U.S. diplomatic installations in Yemen, including the Embassy in Saana, a senior U.S. official said, according to CNN's Barbara Starr.
Earlier today, Yemeni police opened fire to stop protesters from reaching the U.S. Embassy in Saana, witnesses said (see 7:31 a.m. entry).
The protection team is similar to the team of 50 Marines that was sent earlier this this week to Tripoli, Libya, in the wake of the attack in Benghazi.
[Updated at 10:20 a.m. ET] Protesters are climbing the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, and police have fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse them, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reports.
Some protesters, who are about 20 meters outside the U.S. Embassy gates, are throwing rocks at the police, Mhirsi says. He says
that some protesters are waving black flags as they attempt to vandalize the gates.
[Updated at 10:15 a.m. ET] U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to receive the remains of the U.S. diplomats killed in Libya at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 p.m. ET Friday.
[Updated at 10:13 a.m. ET] Add Tunisia to the list of Friday's protests. Hundreds of protesters have left Friday prayers and are heading to the U.S. Embassy in a neighborhood in Tunis, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reported. There is a strong Tunisian police presence in the area.
Hard-line Muslims known as Salafists were among the demonstrators, who were in pickup trucks and on foot.
[Updated at 9:54 a.m. ET] Ron Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, said that because Friday is a non-work day, most of the staff and Embassy personnel are not there as protesters gather outside the building. As far as security goes, Marines are assigned there, and local police officers were sent there earlier Friday as a precautionary measure, Hawkins said.
Earlier Friday, a fire was set at the vacated German Embassy as protesters gathered there. The protest at the U.S. building so has been peaceful, journalist Isma'il Kamal Kushkush said (see 8:42 a.m. entry).
[Updated at 9:31 a.m. ET] More information from Khartoum, Sudan: Protesters have gathered outside the U.S. Embassy there, a journalist at the scene said. The demonstration is peaceful so far.
Earlier today, protesters in Khartoum set the German Embassy on fire and also rallied outside the nearby UK Embassy (see 8:42 a.m. entry). The German Embassy was vacated before the protests.
[Updated at 9:24 a.m. ET] Lebanon has joined the list of Friday protests. One person was killed by police in Tripoli, Lebanon, after a group of armed men stormed a KFC restaurant amid protests in the city, Lebanese security forces told CNN.
About 40 armed men were spotted among 3,000 protesters, officials said.
Gen. Bassam Ayoubi, of the Lebanese internal security forces, said a group of armed men stormed the KFC and asked people to leave. Ayoubi said that the armed men then set the KFC on fire, at which time police arrived and began to fire at the armed men, killing at least one of them. Twenty-five were injured, he said, but it wasn't clear which of the injured were on which side.
[Updated at 9:09 a.m. ET] The German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, was vacated before the protest that reportedly has set the building on fire, the German Foreign Ministry said.
The German Foreign Ministry also said that the Sudanese ambassador to Germany has been called in to the German
Foreign Ministry in Berlin to discuss the situation in Khartoum.
Journalist Isma'il Kamal Kushkush told CNN about 30 minutes ago that the German Embassy in Khartoum was on fire after protests against the online anti-Islam video.
[Updated at 9 a.m. ET] An update on protests in Egypt, while we await more information about the burning German Embassy in Sudan:
Fifteen protesters have been injured in Egypt on Friday, according to Dr. Mohamed Sultan, a health ministry spokesman. Most of the injuries were related to inhaling tear gas or getting it into their eyes.
Two hundred twenty-four people have been injured this week in protests in Cairo, 11 of whom have been hospitalized, Sultan said.
On Friday, officers armed with shields and batons, backed by an armored personnel carrier, rushed a group of several hundred protesters shortly after dawn to quell a violent demonstration that had raged through the night in Cairo. After the rush, a smaller number of demonstrators regrouped near the U.S. Embassy across from police lines, and stones and tear-gas canisters once again crossed in the air. Police fired rubber bullets at protesters. The army began constructing a wall of concrete blocks about 10 feet high across the road leading to the embassy.
Hours later, in the afternoon, youths climbed the newly built wall and threw rocks at police, according to eyewitnesses. Security forces fired tear gas and used water cannons to hold off the rioters. But 100 to 200 hundred meters away in Tahrir Square, a few thousand protesters congregated peacefully.
[Updated at 8:42 a.m. ET] The German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan was on fire Friday after protests against the online anti-Islam video, a journalist on the scene, Isma'il Kamal Kushkush, said. No embassy personnel were believed to be inside.
The UK Foreign Office also says protesters were demonstrating Friday outside its embassy, next to the German Embassy, in Khartoum.
[Updated at 8:35 a.m. ET] U.S. embassies aren't the only Western diplomatic posts facing protests on Friday. Protests have been reported outside the UK and German embassies in Khartoum, Sudan.
UK Foreign Office Spokesperson Mandy Heffield confirmed there is an ongoing demonstration outside the British Embassy in Khartoum. Sudanese police are on the scene, Heffield said.
Earlier, a journalist on the scene said thousands of protesters had marched on the German Embassy in Khartoum, and that a few protesters jumped onto the embassy grounds and pulled down the German flag. Riot police fired tear gas, causing the protesters to pull back, the journalist said.
[Updated at 8:30 a.m. ET] Thousands of protesters marched on the German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, on Friday, as protests against a short online film mocking the Prophet Mohammed swept across the Muslim world, a journalist on the scene said.
A few demonstrators were able to jump into the embassy grounds and pull down the German flag, Isma'il Kamal Kushkush said. Riot police fired tear gas, causing the protesters to pull back. The German Embassy is next to the British Embassy, which did not seem to be the focus of the demonstration.
[Updated at 7:40 a.m. ET] Afghanistan saw its first anti-American protest over the film Friday, as hundreds of demonstrators burned a U.S. flag and chanted "Death to America" and "We condemn the film."
The demonstration in Nangarhar province lasted about an hour and ended peacefully, said Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor of the eastern province.
[Posted 7:31 a.m. ET] Yemeni police opened fire Friday to stop protesters from reaching the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, witnesses told CNN.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood canceled nationwide demonstrations Friday, except for one in Cairo's Tahrir Square against the controversial film about the Prophet Mohammed, the group said in a Twitter message.
We owe Muslims nothing. We have not been the aggressor. We have not been the intolerant. Islam has been at war with the West...it is their way of life. We must respond and crush the enemy until it has surrendered or is no longer capable of presenting a threat. We have many enemies...it will take time...we must have resolve...time to get busy. F-them all.
Just mop the dessert with them and we'll have our black gold. Not a single ground troop just AIR and SEA.
A few thousand predator drones should do the trick.
Can you imagine the result if these intolerant groups had access to nuclear weapons?
Last time I check they had it... Pakistan????
LALALALALALA, you talked badly about my three-headed pig god, now you must perish.
Tabari 9:69 "Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us" The words of Muhammad, prophet of Islam.
Keep up the good work Middle East! You're back on the path toward dictatorships and no freedom. Sorry we every tried to help and celebrate the "arab spring". We didn't know you'd collapse right back into muslim extremist leadership.
You can't fix stupid.
Why can't we as American's through our president just punish this guy publicly who is responsible for all this fiasco and havoc, Nonetheless , He has caused great misery and is linked to these four deaths. I love AMERICA , I am an American and I m a Muslim...
Which guy are you talking about? (Hillary is rather a gal, in case you didn't know.)
This the United States of America, my friend. I do not condone or support what this film producer did. Whether there is any accuracy in his depiction of their prophet is unimportant to me. What is important to me is the over 200 years of American tradition for the freedom of expression, religion, and speech. I have ancestors that have served and died in every war this nation has fought against tyranny and oppression and evil...even the war where we fought ourselves. This man has the right to think and say anything he chooses...as it is the right of the observer to accept or reject what they see and hear. While I may not agree or even like what was said or done or filmed, I will fight to the death to defend his right to say it. Let me warn all of you tyrranical, wild-eyed religious fanatics that think you can dictate to Americans what to think or feel or that you can propagate violence against our people...let me remind you what the motto was on the bottom of one of the first American flags..."Don't tread on me!"
Hey Man..I understand you are angry and I understand your Muslim brothers are as well. You are here (NY Limousine) because you, like many other ethnic people wanted a better life and a FREE life. We don't punish people for stupidity. We allow people to express themselves even when their expression makes us want to punch them in the face. We do not. We ignore or we take comfort in knowing that intelligent people can make up their own minds. As bad as this movie is, and man, it's bad...it does not incite people to kill Muslims or Christians or Jews...it makes fun and offends a group but that's not punishable in America. If you love America than you need to accept that we do not operate with a system that punishes people for what they say or feel even when we disagree.
Wages of appeasement
Um...you guys...you DO realize that the entire USA did not collaborate in the making of that film, and is in no way responsible for it, right? You do realize that the third-rate filmmakers who produced it are not official representatives of this country, right? You do realize that no one would have heard of that silly piece of low budget poop if you hadn't called attention to it, right? Oh, forget it...let's face it, you just love to fight.
Third Rate??? The funniest line of this whole thing is "I made it for 5Million dollars I raised from 100 Jewish donors".... dude....my 10 year old and his puppy could produce a slicker film for two weeks of allowance money ($10/week), a 6 pack of gatorade, his laptop, and an occasional turkey and cheese sandwich! There are 100 very upset Jewish dudes that want their 50k back!
If any good comes out of this insanity it is that perhaps that moderate and the intelligent Muslims (there must be some?) will see that the only way to progress into the 21st century is to marginalize the extremists among them... Benjamin Franklin was in his 70s when the Declaration of Independence was written and as a young man he knew Cotton Mather, one of the Puritan leaders who conducted the Witch Trials in Salem in the late 1600s..In the time of the Puritans you could be ostracized and even killed for speaking against God or Religion.. Franklin, and the rest knew what religious extremism could do to a society and they wisely separated Church and State in the formation of our Government.. These Islamic extremists are about 250 to 300 years behind us as an evolved society.. and we cannot force them to change.. Only they can do that... So I say take the billions we give them in aid and invest it all in developing more energey sources... all over the worls and to Hell with them... for 300 years at least..
Absolutely right.
The same thing happened here, when Ishtar came out.
This all seems to be a little to much of a coincidence to be happening at this time. Oil companies raise the price of gasoline (even before Hurricane Issac and the mideast attacks), Netanyhu claims Obama brushed him off when the White House says there was no request to meet. Now a right wing Christian makes a stupid low budget movie mocking Muslims and it's run on tv in the mideast to incite violence. What do they all have in common? It's two months before the election and none of those mentioned want Obama to win. That's not even considering the GOP election year push to rid a "voter fraud" that doesn't exist. After the election, I think a thorough investigation is in order.
Obama is an idiot. This is what happened when you have a weak leader.
* Happens – this is what happens when you have a weak american educational system.
Get real. It's like saying that the murders only happen because the police is not strong enough. How was he supposed to prevent this from happening?
Why isn't it being changed this is because of a film? CNN and Fox News are both reporting the Egyptian terrorists want the Shiek released from '93 and the Libyan terrorists said the attack immediately followed a call from al Qaeda leader for revenge for the death in June of Abu Yahya al-Libi. The rest is all just a chain reaction of terrorists everywhere. It's not just us under attack, the German Embassy in the Sudan today, the English Embassy next to them and the multi nation peace keeping troops in the Sinai. Almost 800 of them in the Sinai, are our soldiers they're under attack right now. CNN just reported that. BTW, really Jason? You think you're a movie character so...
I know right. Since Obama took office, WWI happened, WWII happened, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq etc. But what do you expect when Obama has been in office for the past 100 years.
So then Bush was the weakest leader of all. Thanks for clearing that up.
Glad to see people taking their time and constructing well thought out and educated posts! What a tribute to American education you are!
Umm the movie actually stole my name. but thanks for noticing
palusko996769 He's downsized our military and still doing it, the world knows it and are taking advantage. Our embassies around the world weren't properly protected. That's why he's sending marines in right now, a handful against thousands of terrorists, so more of our soldiers are in danger.
@Rose As you correctly pointed out, this was an organized attack, and they are now attacking other Embassies as well. So frankly, I am not sure what the size of US military has to do with these particular attacks. It's not like this is the first time US and western Embassies were attacked. There were attacks on Embassies before Obama ever took office.
Someone has to explain to me the collective muslim mentality. The 'scorched earth, destroy everything, Hulk smash' reaction to EVERY LITTLE OFFENCE is really growing weary. Is there a store in every muslim country called US Flags For Burning On TV......?
If you say anything bad about what I believe in you must die? If you draw a picture of Muhammed you must die? Right now it seems the level of sophistication it takes to utterly manipulate huge swathes of the Muslim population is no higher than a bad youtube video from a single right-wing bigot who probably knew that's all it would take.
Who looks worse? One right-wing Fox News devotee making a 'feature film' on his iphone against his bed sheets or whole populations manipulated into burning down their own **** and declaring war because of it.....??! And, please, someone, to what end??! Protests are usually to achieve some goal or highlight a cause. After you've had a hundred 'we hate America' protests how many more do you need before you start looking like a very simple-minded people brainwashed to react exactly the same way to very one-dimensional stimuli?
Not everybody in the world is Muslim. And of those people many do not have great intelligence, tolerance or respect. So any one of those people says or does something to offend you murderous violent rampage is the only conceivable response???!!!
Really weary.....
Maybe you can explain to me why every time thee is conflict in the world America inserts itself and kills thousands of innocent people? What is America's fixation with guns and shooting people?
islaaaam is a cancer, it is a religion of violence and hate
JB, what- are you 12. idiot
It wasn't like this many years ago. After poverty, frustration, humiliation by their own dictatorship, those countries changed. People changed. They became very sensitive about silly things and their minds are locked up. Egypt wasn't like that in the 50s or the 60s. It was a modernized, secular nation. Even their view of Islam was peaceful and respectful. It's a pity that things have turned this way. It's a pity indeed!
because it's fun.
Gosh. How thin-skinned can people get? Do these folks really think that God or their religion needs their puny defense? Its kind of like defending gravity. It is what it is. If its the truth then nothing they will say or do will change it. By the way, Mitt should wear a bright red rubber nose and big floppy shoes. What a clown.
@Jason Well, in all fairness, with the exception of some African countries, you won't find people as fixated on guns, violence and shooting as people in Middle East are.
I think most of us are tired of hearing about it now. Did anyone watch GLEE last night of the new X Factor show. X Factor was pretty good. It has Simon from American Idol and Britney Spears as a judge. Hopefully there will be good things on tv this weekend too.
I wish it was closer to Thanksgiving. I'm a wanting me some good turkey and dressing. We should send some turkey and dressing over to the Muslims. It would make them all full and happy and drowsy. Then they could watch football games and be happy like us.
Damn JB AND Roberto are 12.