W O R L D

Film Fury
Western embassies on alert as Muslim anger simmers
Dubai, September 16
Western embassies across the Muslim world remained on high alert on Sunday and the United States urged vigilance after days of anti-American violence provoked by a video mocking the Prophet Mohammad. Germany followed the US lead and withdrew some staff from its embassy in Sudan, which was stormed on Friday.

Protesters step on a US national flag during a protest in front of the US embassy in Ankara. — Reuters

‘Porn director’ made film
Washington, September 16
The inflammatory anti-Islam film that has led to protests across the Muslim world was produced by a US-based religious group called Media for Christ and was reportedly directed by a pornographer. The man apparently behind the film, 'Innocence of Muslims', is a US-based Egyptian native and fraudster who may have violated his parole, American officials said.

NATO air strike kills 8 Afghan women
Mihtarlam, September 16
Eight women were killed and eight women wounded in a NATO air strike shortly before dawn today in a remote area east of Kabul, an Afghan official said. NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force said it had targeted insurgents, but had been made aware of "possible ISAF-caused civilian casualties" numbering five to eight, and extended its sincerest condolences over the "tragic loss of life".

ISLAND ROW China struggles to curb anger Beijing/Chengdu, September 16 The Chinese police used pepper spray, tear gas and water cannon to break up an anti-Japan protest in southern China on Sunday as demonstrators took to the streets in scores of cities across the country in a long-running row over a group of disputed islands. A Chinese demonstrator wears a self-made head-piece with anti-Japan slogans during a protest over the Diaoyu islands issue in Gansu province on Sunday. — AFP

Indian-origin lawyer ‘buys’ ex-Miss Malaysia for $200
Kuala Lumpur, September 16
No slave trade this! Former Miss Malaysia World Nadia Heng was "sold" for 600 Malaysian ringgits ($200) to an Indian-origin lawyer in an "auction" for a good cause. Heng was among five local personalities who were "sold" to the highest bidder to raise funds for the upgrading of UndiMsia!'s resource centre.

Pakistan arrests 11 Indian fishermen
Islamabad, September 16
Pakistani authorities have arrested 11 Indian fishermen and seized their two boats for allegedly violating the country's maritime boundary, officials said today. The fishermen were arrested by the Maritime Security Agency while they were allegedly fishing in Pakistani waters.

Film Fury
Western embassies on alert as Muslim anger simmers
Germany follows the US in reducing embassy staff in Sudan

Dubai, September 16
Western embassies across the Muslim world remained on high alert on Sunday and the United States urged vigilance after days of anti-American violence provoked by a video mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

Germany followed the US lead and withdrew some staff from its embassy in Sudan, which was stormed on Friday. Washington ordered non-essential staff and family members to leave its embassy there on Saturday. But the Khartoum government turned down a U.S. request to send Marines to bolster security after the mission was attacked.

Non-essential US personnel have also been withdrawn from Tunisia, and Washington urged US citizens to leave the capital Tunis after the embassy there was targeted on Friday.

Although protests that peaked on Friday largely subsided over the weekend, a small group of protesters burned a US flag outside the US Embassy in the Turkish capital Anakara on Sunday. The riot police blocked the road, keeping them about 100 metresfrom the building.

In the Paksitani city of Lahore, about 5,000 people gathered for a protest, chanting anti-US slogans, while in Karachi, the police blocked off roads to the US consulate with shipping containers. The Pakistan demonstrations were, however, generally small compared to previous bouts of unrest.

The violence is the most serious wave of anti-American protests in the Muslim world since the start of the Arab Spring revolts last year.

It was fanned by public anger over a video, posted on the Internet under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims", which mocked the Prophet Mohammad and portrayed him as a womaniser and a fool.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said he hoped the worst of the violence was over but that U.S. missions must remain on guard against any flare-ups. — Reuters

Rs 1 cr bounty offered for filmmaker

ISLAMABAD: A group of religious clerics in Peshawar has offered a head bounty of Rs 1 crore on the blasphemous movie producer amid continuous protest demonstrations across the country. Addressing a protest rally in Peshawar organised by Jamiat Ittehadul Ulema Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, provincial president of the outfit Abdul Akbar Chitrali declared a bounty on the head of the film's producer. — TNS

‘Porn director’ made film

Washington, September 16
The inflammatory anti-Islam film that has led to protests across the Muslim world was produced by a US-based religious group called Media for Christ and was reportedly directed by a pornographer. The man apparently behind the film, 'Innocence of Muslims', is a US-based Egyptian native and fraudster who may have violated his parole, American officials said.

According to news 24, the film was directed by 65-year-old Alan Roberts, a veteran who has made porn films like Young Lady Chatterley II and Karate Cop.

The film was promoted by a network of right-wing Coptic and Evangelical Christians with a radical anti-Muslim agenda, the report said. — ANI

NATO air strike kills 8 Afghan women

Mihtarlam, September 16
Eight women were killed and eight women wounded in a NATO air strike shortly before dawn today in a remote area east of Kabul, an Afghan official said. NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force said it had targeted insurgents, but had been made aware of "possible ISAF-caused civilian casualties" numbering five to eight, and extended its sincerest condolences over the "tragic loss of life".

Civilian casualties from NATO air strikes have strained relations between the United States and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In June, ISAF ordered an end to air strikes on homes, except as a last resort.

Today's attack came shortly before dawn, an Afghan official said, in the area of Dilaram village, in Alingar district of Laghman province. The women were said to have set off to the mountains to collect fire wood. Sarhadi Zwak, a provincial spokesman, said it was a unilateral military operation not coordinated with Afghan forces.

Dozens of tribesmen from Alingar drove into the provincial capital, Mihtarlam, carrying the bodies of some of the victims they said were killed. The crowd stopped outside the governor's office, shouting "death to America, death to the Jews", an AFP reporter said. — AFP

6 US fighter jets destroyed in attack on Prince Harry’s base

Kabul: Six US fighter jets were destroyed and two significantly damaged when insurgents stormed a heavily fortified Afghan base where Britain's Prince Harry is deployed on Friday, a NATO spokesman said.

Lt Col Hagen Messer conceded that the scale of damage, carried out by more than a dozen attackers dressed in US Army uniforms and armed with guns, rockets and suicide vests who managed to storm the airfield, was unprecedented.

Three coalition refuelling stations were also destroyed and six aircraft hangars damaged in the assault at Camp Bastion in southern Helmand province, one of the toughest battlegrounds of the war, the US-led NATO force said.

ISLAND ROW
China struggles to curb anger
Shops looted, Japanese factories attacked

Beijing/Chengdu, September 16
The Chinese police used pepper spray, tear gas and water cannon to break up an anti-Japan protest in southern China on Sunday as demonstrators took to the streets in scores of cities across the country in a long-running row over a group of disputed islands.

The protests erupted in Beijing and many other cities on Saturday, when demonstrators besieged the Japanese embassy, hurling rocks, eggs and bottles and testing police cordons, prompting the Japanese prime minister to call on Beijing to ensure protection of his country's people and property.

In the biggest flare-up on Sunday, the police fired about 20 rounds of tear gas and used water cannon and pepper spray to repel thousands occupying a street in the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.

Protesters attacked a Japanese department store, grabbed police shields and knocked off their helmets. One protester was seen with blood on his face. At least one policeman was hit with a flowerpot.

Demonstrators have looted shops and attacked Japanese cars and restaurants in at least five Chinese cities. Protesters also broke into a dozen Japanese-run factories in eastern Qingdao on Saturday, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

It added that the protests had spread to at least 72 cities. "Regrettably, this is a problem concerning the safety of Japanese nationals and Japan-affiliated companies," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a talk show on NHK. "I would like to urge the Chinese government to protect their safety."

The protests, the latest setback in long-troubled relations between Beijing and Tokyo, followed Japan's decision on Tuesday to buy the disputed islands, which Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu and which could contain valuable gas reserves, from a private Japanese owner. — Reuters

Indian-origin lawyer ‘buys’ ex-Miss Malaysia for $200

Kuala Lumpur, September 16
No slave trade this! Former Miss Malaysia World Nadia Heng was "sold" for 600 Malaysian ringgits ($200) to an Indian-origin lawyer in an "auction" for a good cause. Heng was among five local personalities who were "sold" to the highest bidder to raise funds for the upgrading of UndiMsia!'s resource centre. The "buyers" went out on a date with the personalities, the 'Star Online' reported.

Heng said she was game for anything be it a candlelight dinner or a meal at a mamak's stall (food establishment). "I don't mind being 'sold' off like that as it is for a good cause," she said.

Thirty-seven-year-old, Dipendra Rai, a lawyer, put in the winning bid of RM600 for Heng, saying he wanted to surprise her.

IT manager Adam Loo, 38, paid the highest price of RM1,200 ($400) and won a "date" with lawyer Edmund Bon.

Loo, Bon's close friend, said their "date" would be their usual hangout at a mamak's stall and he would buy Bon roti canai and teh tarik.

"I am flattered to have got the highest bid but more importantly, I am thankful so many people have contributed for a good cause," said Bon.

Other personalities at the auction were FHM Girl Next Door 2010 contest winner Yvonne Sim, documentary producer Seira Sacha, and actor Tony Eusoff, who were "sold" for RM820, RM800 and RM320 respectively. — PTI

Pakistan arrests 11 Indian fishermen

Islamabad, September 16
Pakistani authorities have arrested 11 Indian fishermen and seized their two boats for allegedly violating the country's maritime boundary, officials said today. The fishermen were arrested by the Maritime Security Agency while they were allegedly fishing in Pakistani waters. They were later sent to a police station in the southern port city of Karachi.

Pakistan and India arrest dozens of fishermen every year for violating the maritime boundary. Though the two countries have accelerated the process of releasing jailed fishermen, scores continue to be held in prisons in both countries. On September 11, Pakistan freed 48 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture. — PTI