WorldMag — Violence directed at the United States over a video clip mocking Islam spread into a fourth day, undiminished on Friday, the Muslim holy day.
Clashes near the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, left four people dead and dozens wounded. Hundreds took to the streets to protest the United States in Iran’s capital, Tehran, as well as in Baghdad, in Gaza, and other parts of the Middle East and North Africa. Police have continued to face off against protesters outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, where violence over the film began on Tuesday and has left at least 30 injured. And in Libya, where an angry mob stormed and burned the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, journalists got their first look at the charred and looted compound.
Questions remain as to how a 14-minute video clip posted on YouTube could set in motion such a fierce outbreak. On Friday the FBI identified the film’s producer, who has gone by the name Sam Bacile, as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. The 55-year-old California man once was convicted of financial crimes and prohibited from using computers or the internet as part of his sentence. While Libyan officials have suggested that the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens could have been coordinated and part of a possible terrorist plot linked to the anniversary of 9/11, the U.S. government on Friday adhered to its position that the film is the “catalyst” for the violence.
But few have actually seen the controversial film, Innocence of Muslims, which has only shown as trailer clips on YouTube and other sites.
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