Film protests go on across Indonesia

Hundreds of protesters tore up the American flag and threw eggs at the US embassy in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on Wednesday in the latest protest against an anti-Islam film. More than 200 members of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party’s youth wing wore headbands, which read “Soldiers of Mohammed” and threw eggs at an American flag hung on barbed wire outside the embassy’s main gate. “Not only our drops of blood, we will even sacrifice our lives for our Prophet Mohammed (PBUH),” a protester told a crowd, who shouted back “Allahu akbar!” (God is greatest), while others yelled “Go to hell America” and “Expel America.” “We won’t stay quiet if you insult our religion and our beloved Prophet Mohammed (PBUH),” he added. Others unfurled banners saying “Do’t despise our beloved Mohammed (PBUH)” and “Boycott America.” The film “Innocence of Muslims,” believed to have been produced by a small group of extremist Christian Americans, has triggered a week of furious protests outside US embassies and other American buildings in at least 20 countries. The US temporarily closed its consulate in Indonesia’s third-largest city on Wednesday due to ongoing protests over the anti-Islam film produced in America. About 300 members of the pan-Islamic movement Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia rallied on Wednesday morning in front of the consulate in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. The embassy sent a text message to US citizens saying the consulate would be temporarily closed due to the demonstrations. Indonesia’s leaders and prominent Muslim clerics have urged calm. Moreover, hundreds of Muslims in Sri Lanka’s capital protested on Wednesday against the anti-Islam film, burning effigies of President Barack Obama. About 300 protesters marched in Colombo, carrying signs and banners that read, “Ban anti-Islamic film all over the world. US should apologise to Muslims.” They chanted, “Hang the producer and director of the film.” The protesters blocked traffic on Colombo’s main roads, but police did not allow them to go near the US Embassy. From gulftoday