CAIRO — Anti-American protests inspired by a video denigrating the Prophet Muhammad entered a fourth straight day in the Egyptian capital as authorities in much of the Muslim world braced for possible demonstrations after Friday noon prayers — an occasion often associated with public displays of dissent.
Witnesses in Cairo said protests that first flared on Tuesday — the day the American ambassador in Libya was killed in an attack in neighboring Libya — continued sporadically early Friday, with protesters throwing rocks and gasoline bombs near the American Embassy and police firing tear gas. State media in Egypt say that over 220 people have been injured in the clashes since Tuesday.
The widening unrest, which stretched on Thursday to several countries including Yemen, where protesters breached the outer security perimeter of the American Embassy, has challenged Obama administration policy in the tinderbox region where the revolts of the so-called Arab Spring have removed many of the pro-American strongmen who once kept public displays of Islamic passion in check.
In Egypt, in particular, leaders scrambled Thursday to repair deep strains with Washington provoked by their initial response to attacks on the American Embassy on Tuesday, tacitly acknowledging that they erred in their response by focusing far more on anti-American domestic opinion than on condemning the violence.
The attacks squeezed President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood between conflicting pressures from Washington and their Islamic constituency at home, a senior Brotherhood official acknowledged. During a 20-minute phone call Wednesday night, Mr. Obama warned Mr. Morsi that relations would be jeopardized if the authorities in Cairo failed to protect American diplomats and stand more firmly against anti-American attacks.
In a letter published in The New York Times, Khairat el-Shater, the deputy president of the Muslim Brotherhood said: “Despite our resentment of the continued appearance of productions like the anti-Muslim film that led to the current violence, we do not hold the American government or its citizens responsible for acts of the few that abuse the laws protecting freedom of expression.”
“In a new democratic Egypt, Egyptians earned the right to voice their anger over such issues, and they expect their government to uphold and protect their right to do so. However, they should do so peacefully and within the bounds of the law.”
“The breach of the United States Embassy premises by Egyptian protesters is illegal under international law. The failure of the protecting police force has to be investigated,” the letter said. It was displayed prominently on the English-language Web page of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
In broads swathes of the Islamic world, news reports on Friday said, authorities faced similar dilemmas in their response to the amateurish American-video which portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a perverted buffoon and which Muslims have called deeply offensive to their beliefs. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood reiterated its call for demonstrations against the offensive video after Friday prayers, which are an inevitability in any event. But in an apparent effort to avoid escalating the clashes, the group urged demonstrators to protest outside their individual mosques rather than march to central Tahrir Square — the epicenter of Egypt’s turmoil that led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last year.
In the last two days, the group has stepped up it denunciations of the attacks on the American Embassy, calling them a violation of Islamic teachings urging the protection of strangers and guests.
There were unconfirmed reports late on Thursday that police had begun using shotguns as well as tear gas in their efforts to disperse the crowd. This week was the first time police have cracked down on protesters so violently since Mr. Morsi took office on June 30.
The authorities in Afghanistan, where deadly violence has repeatedly flared over perceived insults to Islam, tried to keep the video from being seen. Afghanistan officials said they pressed to indefinitely suspend access to YouTube, where the video, promoted by a shadowy assortment of right-wing Christians in the United States, had been viewed more than 1.6 million times by Thursday.
David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Cairo, and Alan Cowell from London.
Witnesses in Cairo said protests that first flared on Tuesday — the day the American ambassador in Libya was killed in an attack in neighboring Libya — continued sporadically early Friday, with protesters throwing rocks and gasoline bombs near the American Embassy and police firing tear gas. State media in Egypt say that over 220 people have been injured in the clashes since Tuesday.
The widening unrest, which stretched on Thursday to several countries including Yemen, where protesters breached the outer security perimeter of the American Embassy, has challenged Obama administration policy in the tinderbox region where the revolts of the so-called Arab Spring have removed many of the pro-American strongmen who once kept public displays of Islamic passion in check.
In Egypt, in particular, leaders scrambled Thursday to repair deep strains with Washington provoked by their initial response to attacks on the American Embassy on Tuesday, tacitly acknowledging that they erred in their response by focusing far more on anti-American domestic opinion than on condemning the violence.
The attacks squeezed President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood between conflicting pressures from Washington and their Islamic constituency at home, a senior Brotherhood official acknowledged. During a 20-minute phone call Wednesday night, Mr. Obama warned Mr. Morsi that relations would be jeopardized if the authorities in Cairo failed to protect American diplomats and stand more firmly against anti-American attacks.
In a letter published in The New York Times, Khairat el-Shater, the deputy president of the Muslim Brotherhood said: “Despite our resentment of the continued appearance of productions like the anti-Muslim film that led to the current violence, we do not hold the American government or its citizens responsible for acts of the few that abuse the laws protecting freedom of expression.”
“In a new democratic Egypt, Egyptians earned the right to voice their anger over such issues, and they expect their government to uphold and protect their right to do so. However, they should do so peacefully and within the bounds of the law.”
“The breach of the United States Embassy premises by Egyptian protesters is illegal under international law. The failure of the protecting police force has to be investigated,” the letter said. It was displayed prominently on the English-language Web page of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
In broads swathes of the Islamic world, news reports on Friday said, authorities faced similar dilemmas in their response to the amateurish American-video which portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a perverted buffoon and which Muslims have called deeply offensive to their beliefs. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood reiterated its call for demonstrations against the offensive video after Friday prayers, which are an inevitability in any event. But in an apparent effort to avoid escalating the clashes, the group urged demonstrators to protest outside their individual mosques rather than march to central Tahrir Square — the epicenter of Egypt’s turmoil that led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last year.
In the last two days, the group has stepped up it denunciations of the attacks on the American Embassy, calling them a violation of Islamic teachings urging the protection of strangers and guests.
There were unconfirmed reports late on Thursday that police had begun using shotguns as well as tear gas in their efforts to disperse the crowd. This week was the first time police have cracked down on protesters so violently since Mr. Morsi took office on June 30.
The authorities in Afghanistan, where deadly violence has repeatedly flared over perceived insults to Islam, tried to keep the video from being seen. Afghanistan officials said they pressed to indefinitely suspend access to YouTube, where the video, promoted by a shadowy assortment of right-wing Christians in the United States, had been viewed more than 1.6 million times by Thursday.
David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Cairo, and Alan Cowell from London.