Title: Protesters in Beirut Set Danish Consulate on Fire
Iowahorse - February 5, 2006 05:27 PM (GMT)
Protesters in Beirut Set Danish Consulate on Fire
BEIRUT, Feb. 5 — Protesters angry over European drawings of the Prophet Muhammad attacked a building housing the Danish Consulate here early today, setting it afire and clashing with Lebanese security forces just a day after protesters in Syria set fire to the Danish and Norwegian Embassies in Damascus.
A morning march through downtown Beirut protesting the publication of the drawings, which appeared first in a Danish newspaper and then in other European newspapers, exploded into violence when a breakaway crowd of marchers clashed with Lebanese security forces seeking to approach the Danish Consulate in the Achrafieh section of Beirut.
Lebanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, but a group managed to make its way to the embassy, breaking windows and setting fire to the building. The fire quickly spread through high-rise, and witnesses said they saw people jumping out windows to escape the flames.
The Danish Foreign Ministry urged Danes to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, while Danish embassies in other Arab capitals instructed their citizens to keep a low profile.
"This was a worst-case scenario, a nightmare scenario," said Thomas May, the Danish consulate general in Dubai. "I don't think anyone in their wildest imagination would have expected an escalation like what we have seen."
Demonstrators attacked police officers with stones and set fire to several fire engines, witnesses said, as black smoke billowed from the building. The protesters also threw stones at a nearby church. Lebanese security forces regained control over the area by midday, using water canons and live bullets fired over protesters' heads. Security forces sealed all roads leading to the embassy in the eastern part of the Lebanese capital.
Lebanese religious leaders condemned the attacks. The Lebanese grand mufti, Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, denounced the violence, saying there were infiltrators among the protesters trying to "harm the stability of Lebanon." Speaking on Future TV, he appealed for calm and said some were seeking to exploit the protests.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora also urged calm, declaring that "this is absolutely not the way we express our opinions."
The long-running controversy over the publication of 12 caricatures in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten depicting the Prophet Muhammad in unflattering ways, including one that shows him wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb, became heated last week when a boycott of Danish goods broke out across in several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Libya, who recalled their ambassadors to Denmark. In the days since, publication of the cartoons in several other European newspapers raised tempers further while violence against Danish and European offices in Gaza and elsewhere raised fears of greater unrest.
On Saturday, Syrians set fire to the Danish and Norwegian Embassies in Damascus and damaged the Swedish Embassy while trying to storm the French mission, in a highly unusual eruption of street violence in the heavily policed state, prompting many diplomats to accuse Syria of allowing the violence to continue.
Scandinavian countries, the United States and other countries condemned Syria for failing to protect the embassies.
BEIRUT, Feb. 5 — Protesters angry over European drawings of the Prophet Muhammad attacked a building housing the Danish Consulate here early today, setting it afire and clashing with Lebanese security forces just a day after protesters in Syria set fire to the Danish and Norwegian Embassies in Damascus.
A morning march through downtown Beirut protesting the publication of the drawings, which appeared first in a Danish newspaper and then in other European newspapers, exploded into violence when a breakaway crowd of marchers clashed with Lebanese security forces seeking to approach the Danish Consulate in the Achrafieh section of Beirut.
Lebanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, but a group managed to make its way to the embassy, breaking windows and setting fire to the building. The fire quickly spread through high-rise, and witnesses said they saw people jumping out windows to escape the flames.
The Danish Foreign Ministry urged Danes to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, while Danish embassies in other Arab capitals instructed their citizens to keep a low profile.
"This was a worst-case scenario, a nightmare scenario," said Thomas May, the Danish consulate general in Dubai. "I don't think anyone in their wildest imagination would have expected an escalation like what we have seen."
Demonstrators attacked police officers with stones and set fire to several fire engines, witnesses said, as black smoke billowed from the building. The protesters also threw stones at a nearby church. Lebanese security forces regained control over the area by midday, using water canons and live bullets fired over protesters' heads. Security forces sealed all roads leading to the embassy in the eastern part of the Lebanese capital.
Lebanese religious leaders condemned the attacks. The Lebanese grand mufti, Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, denounced the violence, saying there were infiltrators among the protesters trying to "harm the stability of Lebanon." Speaking on Future TV, he appealed for calm and said some were seeking to exploit the protests.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora also urged calm, declaring that "this is absolutely not the way we express our opinions."
The long-running controversy over the publication of 12 caricatures in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten depicting the Prophet Muhammad in unflattering ways, including one that shows him wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb, became heated last week when a boycott of Danish goods broke out across in several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Libya, who recalled their ambassadors to Denmark. In the days since, publication of the cartoons in several other European newspapers raised tempers further while violence against Danish and European offices in Gaza and elsewhere raised fears of greater unrest.
On Saturday, Syrians set fire to the Danish and Norwegian Embassies in Damascus and damaged the Swedish Embassy while trying to storm the French mission, in a highly unusual eruption of street violence in the heavily policed state, prompting many diplomats to accuse Syria of allowing the violence to continue.
Scandinavian countries, the United States and other countries condemned Syria for failing to protect the embassies.
BlackTalon - February 5, 2006 09:19 PM (GMT)
Protester protest Muhammads bomb turbin cartoon by bombing Danish Consulate. :huh: