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.
Almost 100 yrs ago , a little man named Gavrilo Princip from a group the Black Hand decided that killing one person would make the world better and do away with unsatisfactory ways. He succeded and as of this day the world has yet to recover. That was 1914. Now this film maker comes along and states his ideas and was able to insult lots of people. 40 million died thanks to Gavrilo and how many will die so this guy can express his distaste for someone else's belief. Lets find the film maker and send him to his homeland of Egypt and let him say his piece there.
And Fox News is for the GOP. MSNBC is for the Dems. And on and on. Freedom of speech.
All this does is encourage people to make more anti-Muslim films, not fewer.
Please! People , do not let the media and white house fool you! These protests are not a result of a movie! That was manufactured after CIA learned that there was going to be attacks on American interests in Muslim countries on the anniversery of 911. I have spoken with several Muslim protestors and they are laughing at Americans for being sheepleeasily controlled and mislead by their media and gov. The Obama administration does not want to have to deal with Terrorist attacks on American interests during the reelection. They conveniently release a movie to place the blame and avoid the need to address terrorist attacks on American facilities across the entire Muslim world. Research it! Look at the timelines! Look for the truth and you will find it right in front of you. The media and the white house, like always , is spinning the truth on the American people , who clearly can't think for them selves. –
Why Verbal and Visual Abuse is freedom of speech that leads to ssuch a heavy display of "Freedom of Speech" ?
Can you say " Can we all just get along?"
I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion. But I don't believe that our country (tax payers money) should be given to countries who react this way. We are at these embassies to assist and aid our people. Yet the Ambassador that was killed did so much for Lybia and they take his life. I think the people of the United States are definitely getting tired of the rioting everytime something happens to Islam. These countries just want our money, they could care less about protecting our citizens while they are there helping them. We need the money here in the US.Our own people that are out of work, have or are losing their homes, living at poverty level and cannot afford to feed and cloth their own children. We need to stop sending money hoping they will like us, stop sending our military to help fight their wars they really don;t appreciate us.
Very well said!
I wonder how many of those pulled pork bbq cheeseburgers sell at the Hardees in Tripoli.
I agree with many others its most likely a counter revolution from the Arab spring.
ANyone notice that some (NOT ALL) but some of these countries are countries we supported when they stabilized their current leadership. This is democracy in the middle east for you. It just does NOT work. it works in the western world (barely) with close to 300 some odd years in the US. Even then we didnt give full rights to vote to minorities until fairlly recent. We may not have liked Moammar Ghadaffi, or Hosni Mubarak, but nobody dared storm an embassy or counsulate under their watch. They knew how to keep the people in order. What we have here is the result of our own meddling and interference. Poorly elected governments with no backbone to stand up to the people who voted them into offce at times of civil unrest.
I agree with your premise, I think the problem is these countries took the voting part of democracy without the respect for minority rights and free speech parts. Voting on its own is not democracy, and leads to mob rule.
Please! People , do not let the media and white house fool you! These protests are not a result of a movie! That was manufactured after CIA learned that there was going to be attacks on American interests in Muslim countries on the anniversery of 911. I have spoken with several Muslim protestors and they are laughing at Americans for being sheepleeasily controlled and mislead by their media and gov. The Obama administration does not want to have to deal with Terrorist attacks on American interests during the reelection. They conveniently release a movie to place the blame and avoid the need to address terrorist attacks on American facilities across the entire Muslim world. Research it! Look at the timelines! Look for the truth and you will find it right in from of you-
I agree wholeheartedly!
I meant that I agree wholeheartedly with Pager 710, not 'Common Sense'.
What are they trying to accomplish by attacking the US Embassys? I do not understand what they are trying to accomplish? And how are all these countries not stepping up and protecting the Embassy. Their Embassy or consulate here would be guarded by military personnel, government contracted security personnel, local law enforcement, secret service, FBI etc...
Please! People , do not let the media and white house fool you! These protests are not a result of a movie! That was manufactured after CIA learned that there was going to be attacks on American interests in Muslim countries on the anniversery of 911. I have spoken with several Muslim protestors and they are laughing at Americans for being sheepleeasily controlled and mislead by their media and gov. The Obama administration does not want to have to deal with Terrorist attacks on American interests during the reelection. They conveniently release a movie to place the blame and avoid the need to address terrorist attacks on American facilities across the entire Muslim world. Research it! Look at the timelines! Look for the truth and you will find it right in from of you–
Maybe they found out that KFC was feeding them pork instead of chicken.
I'm confused.... so this Mohammed character instructs his followers to destroy their communities in the event one person pokes fun of him? Keep it up Muslims in the Middle East. Go ahead and wipe out yourselves and your own communities if it makes you feel better. This is way they are an inferior civilization. What does Mohammed and Old Navy have in common? They both have little boys pants half off!!
Please! People , do not let the media and white house fool you! These protests are not a result of a movie! That was manufactured after CIA learned that there was going to be attacks on American interests in Muslim countries on the anniversery of 911. I have spoken with several Muslim protestors and they are laughing at Americans for being sheepleeasily controlled and mislead by their media and gov. The Obama administration does not want to have to deal with Terrorist attacks on American interests during the reelection. They conveniently release a movie to place the blame and avoid the need to address terrorist attacks on American facilities across the entire Muslim world. Research it! Look at the timelines! Look for the truth and you will find it right in from of you--
To "Common sense":
Yes I am so sure that President Obama is so smart and evil that he would plot this whole thing out and release a video so that riots would occur and people would get killed. He probably did it at night while his children were fast asleep. Maybe his wife helped with the plotting. You are ad.
Happy Friday from the Religion of Peace!
Please! People , do not let the media and white house fool you! These protests are not a result of a movie! That was manufactured after CIA learned that there was going to be attacks on American interests in Muslim countries on the anniversery of 911. I have spoken with several Muslim protestors and they are laughing at Americans for being sheepleeasily controlled and mislead by their media and gov. The Obama administration does not want to have to deal with Terrorist attacks on American interests during the reelection. They conveniently release a movie to place the blame and avoid the need to address terrorist attacks on American facilities across the entire Muslim world. Research it! Look at the timelines! Look for the truth and you will find it right in front of you. The media and the white house, like always , is spinning the truth on the American people , who clearly can't think for them selves. -
I am glad that Obama has joined the muslims and condemned the film. Insert criticism.
There is NO SOLUTION to this madness!! Just get away from them and leave them be! Get out of the Middle East, period! Leave them to their own devices! And we do have free speech in this country–thank God and I do not mean Allah!! Because did you ever hear of somebody denigrating the Lord Jesus Christ and being sent into hiding or killed or sparking riots? If we didn't have free speech I am sure I would have at some time in my life spent time in jail. But everybody knows how the Muslims respond to our free speech when it comes to Mohammed. Interestingly they don't seem to go nuts when anybody says anything negative about their Allah, and isn't he greater than the prophet?
However, my real point of this post is, that although WE have free speech, people must realize that it is a different world with instant communication and it almost seems as though the people creating these films and burning Korans and such are daring something terrible to happen–thumbing their noses at the possibility that rioting will occur and innocent people will be killed–DEAD. They must absolutely know that letting such activities get out WILL cause the deaths of other people. If they claim to be Christian, I would ask them: are we not our brothers' keepers? So why should they not be held accountable for what happens as a result of their words and actions? Because I would not want to be the innocent person caught up in the violence in the Middle East, whether I was a bystander or a target. Would you?
I consider myself so very fortunate to be who I am–an American–and where I am: in America, a free country, still the shining star of the world, because these two things occurred completely by accident for me and I had absolutely
nothing to do with them. I could have been born into all the suffering that is occurring in so many places on this Earth.
One other point I would like to make is that I am so glad that John McCain was not elected because I believe him to be a warmonger and a loose cannon and I feel very sure that we would have been in three wars right now, (Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya) and would be preparing to go into some other countries now.