Pakistani protests of anti-Muslim film turn deadly

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Protests over an anti-Muslim film turned violent Friday across Pakistan, with police firing tear gas and live ammunition at thousands of demonstrators who threw rocks and set fire to buildings. At least 17 people were killed and dozens were injured.

Muslims also marched in at least a half-dozen other countries, with some burning American flags and effigies of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Pakistan has experienced nearly a week of deadly protests over the film, Innocence of Muslims, that has sparked anti-American violence around the Islamic world since it attracted attention on the Internet in the past 10 days. The deaths of at least 47 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, have been linked to the violence over the film, which was made in California and denigrates the Prophet Muhammad.

The Pakistani government declared Friday to be a national holiday — “Love for the Prophet Day” — and encouraged peaceful protests.

The U.S. Embassy spent $70,000 for advertisements on Pakistani TV that featured Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denouncing the video. Their comments, from previous public events in Washington, were in English but subtitled in Urdu, the main Pakistani language.

The deadliest violence occurred in the southern port city of Karachi, where 12 people were killed and 82 wounded, according to Seemi Jamali and Aftab Channar, officials at two hospitals.

Armed demonstrators among a crowd of 15,000 in that city fired on police, according to police officer Ahmad Hassan. The crowd also burned two cinemas and a bank, he said.

Five people were killed and 60 wounded in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said police official Bashir Khan. Police fired on rioters who set fire to three movie theaters and the city’s chamber of commerce, and damaged shops and vehicles.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.