SANAA, Yemen -- American unrest escalated in the
Middle East on Thursday as demonstrators burned U.S. flags in Yemen and
protesters descended on the embassy in Cairo for a third straight day.
Security was increased at American embassies and consulates around the world.
More: After attacks in Egypt and Libya, USA asks: Why?
In
Yemen's capital of Sanaa on Thursday morning, black smoke billowed into
the sky from burning SUVs inside the U.S. Embassy compound. Hundreds of
angry demonstrators tried to storm the building, chanting "death to
America" and death for the American filmmaker who made an anti-Islam
film that helped spark a deadly attack on the embassy in Libya and
protests in Egypt.
MORE: Protesters storm U.S. Embassy in Yemen
Protesters marched on the
embassy from three sides before being blocked by Yemeni security forces.
Some demonstrators were able to breach the security cordon before
eventually being pushed back by troops firing tear gas and live
ammunition into the air.
MORE: Libya: U.S. ambassador, 3 other Americans killed
"They brought this on
themselves," Abdullah Rahman Safi shouted above the sound of gunfire.
"We want to close the American embassy for this insult on prophet
Mohammed," he added, referring to the film Innocence of Muslims posted on YouTube depicting the Islam prophet Mohammed as a fraud and a womanizer.
More aggressive demonstrators also shouted "Death to America," targeting American ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein.
Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sharpened her criticism of the film
Thursday calling it "disgusting and reprehensible" and a cynical attempt
to offend people for their religious beliefs.
But
Clinton said the U.S. would never stop Americans from expressing their
views, no matter how distasteful. She said the film is no justification
for violence or attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel.
Clinton said Thursday the U.S. is monitoring protests in Yemen.
Yemeni
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi apologized to President Obama for the
attack on the embassy and ordered an investigation. The Yemeni Embassy
in Washington condemned the attack and vowed to ensure the safety of
foreign diplomats and to step up security measures around their missions
in the country.
It was similar to an attack
on the U.S. Embassy in the Egyptian capital on Tuesday night. A mob of
Libyans also attacked the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of
Benghazi, killing American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three
other Americans.
Attorney General Eric Holder,
in Doha, Qatar on Thursday for the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery, said
the FBI opened an investigation into the attack.
Yemen
is home to al-Qaeda's most active branch and the United States is the
main foreign supporter of the Yemeni government's counterterrorism
campaign. The government on Tuesday announced that al-Qaeda's No. 2
leader in Yemen was killed in an apparent U.S. airstrike, a major blow
to the terror network.
U.S. officials also
were investigating whether the rampage in Libya was actually planned to
coincide with the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Egyptian
protesters clashed Thursday with police near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo
for the third day in a row. Police used tear gas to disperse the
protesters and the two sides pelted each other with rocks.
But unlike Tuesday, the police kept the protesters away from the embassy's compound.
The
Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police, said 16 protesters and
13 policemen were wounded in the clashes, which broke out overnight and
were ongoing. Twelve protesters have been arrested, it said.
The
protests were going on around the Tahrir Square area -- the heart of
last year's revolution that led to the ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarak
and close to the U.S. Embassy. Protesters were initially primarily
hard-line Muslims, but since Wednesday evening the composition of the
crowd seemed to change and police battled young men aligned with a group
called "Ultras" -- comprised of soccer fans who are growing more
political.
President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's
first Islamist president elected in June, is teetering between allowing
freedom of expression and maintaining stability as nations worldwide
adjust to power shifts propelled by the Arab Spring. Morsi, speaking
while on a visit to Brussels, vowed on Thursday not to allow attacks on
foreign embassies in Cairo, saying the Egyptian people reject such
"unlawful acts."
In Yemen, demonstrators
gathered in the streets around the embassy compound chanting: "We will
not leave until the Americans leave" as they burned tires in front of
soldiers and water cannon trucks.
Sustained gunfire rang out as
troops attempted to disperse the crowds, with AK-47s and .50-caliber
machine guns being fired over the heads of the chanting crowds. Medics
on the scene said one man sustained a head wound from a falling bullet.
Security
had been stepped up on the approach roads to the embassy building in
anticipation of protests following similar attacks in Libya and Egypt.
Soldiers stood back allowing protesters through the concrete roadblocks
toward the U.S. Embassy building and some marched alongside the
demonstrators, before shots were fired over their heads by armored
vehicles and other foot soldiers.
The streets
surrounding the U.S. Embassy in the northeast of the capital remained
tense for several hours after the initial storming of the compound.
Embassy
staff have been living in Sanaa's Sheraton hotel, just a few hundred
meters from the embassy building, since violence broke out during
political unrest in the city last year. It was unclear how many staff
were in the embassy when the compound was stormed.
Troops
responsible for security around the U.S. Embassy are from Yemen's
Central Security Forces, commanded by Brigadier General Yahya Saleh,
nephew of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh finally
relinquished power last February after a year-long uprising against him.
As
part of recent structural changes within the military, under the terms
of a U.S.-backed political transition deal, Yemen's new president, Abdu
Rabu Mansor al-Hadi, has moved several members of the Saleh family from
key army and air force positions.
In
Iraq on Thursday, hundreds of Shiite followers of the anti-American
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded the closure of the U.S. Embassy in
Baghdad because of the film. Protesters burned American flags and
carried banners reading, "We reject the attack on the prophet Mohammed."
"No,
no, to Israel! No, no to America!" thousands shouted in the Shiite
stronghold of Sadr City in northeast Baghdad. "Yes, yes for Messenger of
God."
Afghanistan's government, meanwhile, sought to avert any
protests as past anger over perceived insults to Islam has triggered
violence in the country.
President Hamid Karzai canceled an
official visit to Norway and spoke by phone with President Obama to
convey his condolences for the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya
and three other diplomats, a statement said. He also discussed the "film
and the insulting of holy Islamic values," but the statement provided
no other details.
Analysts say they don't believe the tragedy in Libya will impact its relationship with the current U.S. administration.
"It's
a very good and strong relationship," said Paul Salem, director of the
Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "In general, the view of the
U.S. after the revolution was a fairly positive image among most
Libyans."
But the region retains its challenges.
"The
Middle East is now going to be the wild Middle East in some ways and
this kind of shoot em up action is, I am afraid, going to be part of the
political landscape in the Middle East for some time to come," said
Joshua Landis, director for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of
Oklahoma. "We've got to brace ourselves."