Major anti-US protests in response to the YouTube trailer for an anti-Muslim film continued today across the Muslim world, with the hundreds and in many case thousands showing up in major cities all over rallying against US embassies, consulates and other sites. So far the death toll worldwide from the protests is at least 19, with demonstrations in over 20 countries.
The largest protests appear to have been in Beirut, where several different rallies were held and Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassen Nasrallah gave a rare public speech urging the US to ban the movie, which so far hasn’t been publicly seen, and which some have speculated doesn’t exist beyond the trailer.
The Beirut protesters were not held near the US embassy, but spooked State Department officials enough that they ordered diplomats at the embassy to begin destroying classified documents en masse in case the embassy is sacked.
Other major protests were reported in several Pakistani cities, in the Philippines city of Marawi, and in Ramallah. Police clashed with protesters in Jakarta and arrested several in Baku, Azerbaijan.
