Lebanon Hezbollah Head Rallies Against Anti-Muslim Film
The leader of Lebanon’s Shia movement Hezbollah has appeared in public for the first time since December 2011 to denounce the amateur anti-Islam film which has sparked worldwide protests.
Speaking at a rally in Beirut, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said the US faces “very dangerous” repercussions if it allows the full video to be released.
New protests erupted around the Muslim world on Monday over the US-made video.
Violent demonstrations were held in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
At least one protester was killed in protests in Pakistan and thousands attended an angry rally in the Philippines city of Marawi.
Weapons were fired and police cars torched in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
‘Worst attack’
In Beirut, Hassan Nasrallah addressed a huge protest in Hezbollah’s stronghold in the south of the city.
He said the world did not understand the “breadth of the humiliation” caused by the “worst attack ever on Islam”.
It is rare for the influential head of the Shia Muslim militant group to appear in public – he usually addresses his supporters via videolink for fear of assassination.
Women supporters of Lebanon”s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah wave Hezbollah, Amal movement and Lebanese flags as they march at an anti-U.S. protest in Beirut”s southern suburbs September 17, 2012.
The BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut says that in contrast to other protests held over the last week against the film, including one in north Lebanon which left one person dead, there was no violence at the Hezbollah rally.
Thousands of people were on the streets of Beirut, waving flags and chanting, “America, hear us – don’t insult our Prophet”.
Sheikh Nasrallah had earlier called for a week of protests – not only against American embassies, but also to press Muslim governments to express their own anger to the US.
More than a dozen people have died since last Tuesday in protests sparked by the appearance on Youtube of a trailer for the obscure, poorly made film, which is entitled Innocence of Muslims.
Pakistan deaths
Youtube told the BBC it would not remove the trailer as it was within its guidelines but it had restricted access to the clip in countries where its content was illegal “such as India and Indonesia as well as in Libya and Egypt”.
At least one protester was killed in Pakistan on Monday as violent demonstrations were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the country’s biggest city, Karachi.
Pakistan, as predicted, has blocked access to Youtube, accusing it of failing to remove blasphemous material.
BBC
