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Denmark's Beirut consulate ablaze in violent cartoon protest
Furious crowds of Lebanese demonstrating against the Prophet Mohammad cartoons on Sunday stormed and set alight the building housing the Danish consulate in Beirut, in clashes that left dozens wounded. In a vivid repeat of riots in Syria the day earlier that burned the representations of Denmark and Norway, protesters set the building ablaze despite the presence of security forces, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky. Demonstrators were seen using ladders to enter the building while others hacked at its walls and windows with axes and polls. Some protesters seized fire engines and sprayed their water hoses, leaving the streets soaked. Anti-riot police with shields, gas masks and helmets took to the streets in a bid to quell the protests. The red and white flag of Denmark was set alight. The Lebanese press said that Danish diplomats had evacuated the premises Saturday night after the protest in neighbouring Syria, which reflected growing anger across the Islamic world over the cartoons. The Danish government called on its nationals to leave Lebanon, saying they "should remain indoors until the travel possibilities have been clarified." Twenty-eight people were wounded in the clashes, some were treated for inhaling teargas and others had sustained fractures, a civil defence medic said. An AFP journalist on the scene estimated that several thousand people were among the angry crowds, many of whom turned out in response to a call by a group called the "National Movement for the Defence of the Prophet Mohammad." The protesters also attacked property and shops in the Beirut Christian area of Ashrafiyeh, throwing stones, breaking windows and overturning cars, an AFP journalist said. There were chaotic scenes as hundreds as protesters marched through the area, knocking down barricades. Stones were thrown at a church as Islamic leaders were seen appealing for calm. Earlier, police had fired tear gas to prevent protesters from advancing more than 200 metres from the consulate building and holding their demonstration. The good news continues. Let's hope they get emboldened enough to try this in C'hagen, Paris or Berlin. Posted by: phil_b 2006-02-05 |
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