Afghans Protest Anti-Islam Film

An Egyptian protester holds an Al-Qaeda affiliated flag near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on September 14.

Hundreds of people have gathered on the streets of Kabul shouting anti-U.S. slogans to protest against a film mocking Islam that has triggered deadly riots in the Middle East and North Africa.

Police in the Afghan capital said around 1,000 protesters, many of them students, shouted "Death to America" near Kabul University.

Police said the protests over the obscure Internet film, "Innocence of Muslims," have so far been peaceful.

The protest in Kabul comes after another in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on September 14, with protesters setting fire to an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Local tribal chiefs and Islamic clerics in Nangarhar announced a $100,000 bounty on the head of the producer of the film.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has announced that it is ordering nonessential diplomatic personnel to leave Tunisia and Sudan, a day after its embassies in both countries were stormed and damaged by demonstrators.

The statement from Washington warned U.S. citizens "against all travel to Tunisia at this time" and warned of the risks of travel to Sudan, where the terrorist threat level "remains critical."

Demonstrations since September 11 in Muslim countries have targeted U.S. and other Western embassies, ostensibly over the anti-Islam video.

An attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi left four U.S. personnel dead, including the ambassador to Libya.

In a related development, the filmmaker linked to the Internet video at the center of the furor has been questioned by police in Los Angeles.

Police are investigating whether Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who has been convicted of financial crimes, has violated the terms of his five-year probation.

Authorities said that after being questioned for about half an hour, Nakoula decided not to return to his suburban Los Angeles home, possibly in an effort to go into hiding.



Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, Reuters, and AP