A Pakistani demonstrator throws a tear gas shell toward riot police during a protest against an anti-Islam film in Islamabad on Friday, September 21. Angry demonstrators set fire to two movie theaters in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar as many braced for intensified protests Friday, officials said.
Malaysian Muslim demonstrators march toward the U.S. Embassy after a Friday mass prayer in Kuala Lumpur.
A Pakistani police officer fires an automatic weapon toward demonstrators during a protest Friday in Islamabad.
Pakistani riot police chase demonstrators Friday in Islamabad.
A Kashmiri activist shouts anti-U.S. slogans during a protest Friday in Srinagar, India.
Pakistani protesters walk near a burning police bunker as demonstrators attempt to reach the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad on Thursday, September 20.
A Pakistani protester throws a tear gas shell back toward police on Thursday.
Pakistani demonstrators carry an injured person on Thursday.
Pakistani riot policemen hold back lawyers shouting anti-U.S. slogans as they attempt to reach the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday, September 19. More than 30 people have been killed around the world during more than a week of attacks and violent protests linked to a controversial film seen as insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.
A Pakistani lawyer wraps a U.S. flag onto his shoe in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Police try to stop Pakistani lawyers crawling under a barrier as they try to reach the U.S. Embassy in the diplomatic enclave during a protest against an anti-Islam movie in Islamabad on Wednesday.
Pakistani Muslims shout anti-U.S. slogans during a protest against an anti-Islam movie in Karachi on Wednesday. The Pakistan government has declared Friday a national holiday in honor of the Prophet Mohammed and called for peaceful protests against the film.
Pakistani police stand guard on a blocked street in front of the U.S. Consulate during a protest in Lahore on Wednesday.
Pakistani activists of the hard line Sunni party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) offer prayers near the U.S. Consulate on Wednesday in Lahore.
Lebanese army soldiers secure the area around the French ambassador's residence in Beirut on Wednesday. France has ordered special security measures around its embassies and schools because of fears of a hostile reaction to a magazine's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the foreign ministry said.
Supporters of Hezbollah hold a picture depicting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and chant the slogan "God is Great" during a mass rally in Tyre, Lebanon, on Wednesday. Thousands of Lebanon's Hezbollah followers protested against the United States and France for a film and cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed.
Members of Justice and Prosperous Party attend a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday.
An Indian Muslim student hits a burning effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama during a protest in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Masked Palestinians are seen during clashes with Israeli security forces in Shuafat refugee camp, Jerusalem, on Tuesday, September 18.
Indian Muslims burn an American flag with a picture of U.S. President Barack Obama as they protest against a U.S.-made anti-Islam film on Tuesday, September 18, near the U.S. Consulate in Chennai. About 5,000 people have gathered in front of the building. Google India has already blocked access to the film, which the government has condemned as "offensive."
Pakistani Sunni Muslims march during a protest against the anti-Islam movie in Peshawar on Tuesday. Police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of more than 2,000 protesters trying to reach the U.S. Consulate in northwest Pakistan.
Palestinian protesters throw stones at Israeli security forces during clashes that erupted after a demonstration against an amateur anti-Islam film in Shuafat refugee camp, Jerusalem, on Tuesday. Hundreds of Palestinians protesting against the movie clashed with Israeli border police in East Jerusalem, hurling stones and firebombs at a checkpoint, the military and reporters said.
Israeli border policemen fire tear gas toward Palestinian protesters on Tuesday.
Kashmiri Muslim demonstrators shout anti-U.S. and Israeli slogans before a clash with Indian police during a protest and one-day strike called by several religious and political organizations in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Firefighters attempt to extinguish the flames in an Indian police vehicle as protesters clash with police during a protest and in Srinagar, Kashmir, on Tuesday.
A Kashmiri Muslim boy jumps over a burning tire set up as a roadblock during Tuesday's demonstration Srinagar.
Kashmiri Muslims throw stones at Indian police during a protest on Tuesday in Srinagar.
Muslim women shout Islamic slogans in Srinagar on Tuesday.
Thai Muslims shout slogans during a protest in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday.
Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah group march during a rally in southern Beirut to denounce the film mocking Islam on Monday, September 17. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who made a rare public appearance at the rally, has called for a week of protests across the country over the film, describing it as the "worst attack ever on Islam."
Sunni Muslims burn a U.S. flag during a protest in Lahore, Pakistan, on Monday. Protests entered their second week, with demonstrators taking to the streets in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Lebanon.
Pakistani Shiite Muslims shout anti-American slogans Monday in Lahore.
Afghan riot police are reflected through a window during an anti-U.S. protest Monday in Kabul, Afghanistan. Protesters attacked police along a road leading to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
Afghan police leave Jalalabad Road following an anti-U.S. protest Monday in Kabul.
Barricades of tires burn Monday in Kabul.
Indonesian anti-riot police arrest a protester Monday outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. Monday's demonstrations come nearly a week after protests erupted in Egypt and Libya, spreading to more than 20 nations.
An Indonesian protester runs through smoke Monday outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta.
Pakistani lawyers shout anti-American slogans as they march Monday in Lahore.
Pakistani activists shout slogans in Islamabad on Sunday, September 16.
Pakistani protestors hold banners and shout anti-U.S. slogans in Karachi on Sunday.
Pakistani paramilitary soldiers stand near a burning police van during an anti-U.S. protest organized by Pakistani Shiite Muslims in Karachi on Sunday.
Supporters of Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hard-line group Jamaat ud Dawa shout anti-U.S. slogans during a rally against an anti-Islam movie in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sunday.
A protester climbs on a gate of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, on Sunday.
Pakistani protesters march toward the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Sunday.
Protesters attack a police van outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Sunday.
Pakistani police fire tear gas shells toward the protesters in Karachi on Sunday.
An Afghan youth shouts slogans during an anti-U.S. protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday.
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hard-line group Jamaat ud Dawa, addresses supporters in Lahore on Sunday.
A protester hits a policeman with a pole in Sydney's central business district on Saturday, September 15. Anger over an anti-Islam video, "The Innocence of Muslims," spread to Australia on Saturday, and protesters took to the streets of the country's capital.
A man assists a young protester after capsicum spray was used by police near the U.S. Consulate General in central Sydney on Saturday.
A policeman, injured by protesters, is assisted by colleagues in central Sydney on Saturday.
A Tunisian firefighter works inside a destroyed school building in the grounds of the American school in Tunis, Tunisia, on Saturday. Four people were killed and almost 50 injured in an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tunis the day before by protesters angry over an anti-Islam film, the health ministry said.
A burned bus sits in the grounds of the American school in Tunis on Saturday.
A woman collects books from a classroom in the American school in Tunis on Saturday.
Muslim protesters holding shoes and brooms shout anti-U.S. slogans on Saturday during a protest against the film they consider blasphemous to Islam near the U.S. Consulate-General in Chennai, India.
Supporters of Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami shout slogans during a protest on Saturday in Khyber Agency, Pakistan. The Pakistani parliament passed a resolution on Thursday condemning "The Innocence of Muslims" and urged the U.S. to take appropriate action.
Supporters of Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami shout slogans during a protest in Khyber Agency on Saturday.
Pakistani Muslims burn a U.S. flag during a protest rally in Islamabad on Saturday. The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday issued a call to young Muslims worldwide and within the country to rise up against an anti-Islam movie.
Mourners shout slogans during the funeral of a protester who was killed two days ago during clashes with security forces at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, on Saturday . According to media reports, at least four people were killed when hundreds of Yemeni protesters stormed the embassy on Wednesday.
Smoke billows from the burning German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, as a policeman stands next to a man preparing to extinguish the fire caused by protesters the anti-Islam film. Around 5,000 protesters in the Sudanese capital stormed the embassies of Britain and Germany, which were torched and badly damaged.
A Sudanese protester, right, takes off his clothes to show policemen that he is unarmed during a protest in Khartoum on Friday. Two protesters were killed as security forces used tear gas against thousands of demonstrators trying to approach the U.S. mission after storming the British and German embassies.
A Jordanian protester holds an Islamic book near the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, on Friday. Hundreds of members of Jordanian Salafi Movement gathered after Friday noon prayers in protest of a controversial anti-Islam film.
Police stand guard near protesters near the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney on Saturday, September 15.
Protesters clash with police on a street in Sydney's central business district on Saturday.
Indian policemen walk past smashed windows of the U.S. Consulate building, caused by a mob of demonstrators protesting against an anti-Islam film, in Chennai, India, on Friday, September 14.
Tunisian protesters try to storm the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Friday.
A Tunisian protester holds an Al-Qaeda affiliated flag amid the smoke coming from the tear gas fired by riot police outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Friday.
Yemeni riot policemen stand guard at a crossroad leading to the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Friday.
Yemeni protesters burn a U.S. flag on a street leading to the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Friday, September 14.
Yemeni protesters shout during a demonstration near the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Friday.
Yemeni protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by riot police in Sanaa on Friday.
Jordanian protesters burn a U.S. flag near the U.S. Embassy in Amman on Friday.
Jordanian protesters shout in Amman on Friday.
Israeli police officers stand behind their shields during clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in a demonstration against an anti-Islam film in front of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday.
Israeli police arrest a Palestinian protester on Friday.
Boys inspect fast food chains Hardee's and KFC after they were torched during a protest in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday.
Bangladeshi Muslims attempt to break a police barricade during a protest in Dhaka on Friday.
Supporters of Jamat ud Dawa shout during a protest against an anti-Islam video in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Friday.
A Muslim protester defaces a mural on a wall of the U.S. Consulate in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Friday.
Muslim protesters burn a U.S. flag outside the U.S. Consulate in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Friday.
Muslim protesters shout outside the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Friday.
Pakistani soldiers hold back protesters attempting to reach the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad on Friday.
An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister toward riot police during clashes near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Friday.
A Sudanese demonstrator burns a German flag after torching the German Embassy in Khartoum on Friday.
Protesters throw stones toward riot police during clashes along a road leading to the U.S. Embassy near Tahrir Square in Cairo on Friday, September 14.
A riot police officer shouts a warning during clashes in Cairo on Friday.
Protesters chant during a march to the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday, September 13. One protester was killed in clashes when Yemeni security forces dispersed hundreds of demonstrators who gathered around and inside the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa.
A protester shouts after sustaining injuries in a confrontation with riot police who fired tear gas outside the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Thursday.
Protesters carry flags that read "There is no God but Allah, Mohammed is Allah's messenger" and chant during a protest in Tripoli, Lebanon, on Thursday.
Palestinians protest the movie "Innocence of Muslims" in front of the Legislative Council in Gaza City on Thursday.
Iranian demonstrators chant anti-American slogans during a demonstration on Thursday in front of the Swiss Embassy, which serves as the U.S. interests section in Iran, in Tehran.
An Iranian police officer shows a victory sign during Thursday's demonstration in Tehran.
Supporters of Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir burn Israeli and U.S. flags during a protest in Sidon, Lebanon, on Thursday.
Kuwaiti police stand guard as hundreds of demonstrators protest near the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City on Thursday.
Arab-Israeli men wave green Islamic flags with the Muslim profession of belief: "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God" during a protest in front of the U.S. Embassy on Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Egyptian protesters throw stones at riot police during clashes near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Thursday.
Riot police take cover from stones thrown by protesters on Thursday.
Egyptian protesters help a man who inhaled tear gas during clashes at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Thursday.
A burned-out pickup sits between Egyptian protesters and riot police in Cairo on Thursday.
Egyptian protesters take cover during clashes with riot police on Thursday.
An Egyptian protester wears a makeshift mask and helmet for protection while fighting riot police on Thursday.
Egyptian protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by riot police during clashes on Thursday.
An Egyptian riot police officer fires tear gas toward protesters during clashes Thursday with police near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
Iraqi protesters burn Israeli and U.S. flags during a protest Thursday. The U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others were killed during a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday.
Egyptian protesters clash with riot police Thursday near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
Iranians protest against a film mocking Islam near the Swiss Embassy in Tehran on Thursday. Up to 500 people chanted "Death to America!" and death to the director of the movie, which was made in the United States. The demonstration ended peacefully in two hours.
An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister at riot police Thursday during clashes near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
Police use tear gas on crowds protesting Thursday outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames Tuesday, September 11.
A vehicle and the surrounding area are engulfed in flames after it was set on fire inside the compound on Tuesday.
A protester reacts as the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames Tuesday night.
Yemeni protesters gather around a fire Thursday during a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Sanaa. Yemeni forces fired warning shots to disperse the thousands of protesters approaching the main gate of the mission.
Yemeni protesters try to break the security camera at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Thursday.
Egyptians shout slogans during a protest in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
Egyptian protesters gather in front of the U.S. Embassy the morning after it was vandalized by protesters during a demonstration on Wednesday in Cairo.
Protesters shout outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, on Wednesday, September 12.
A group of protesters attend a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Wednesday.
A demonstrator walks on a U.S. flag during a Wednesday's demonstration at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis.
People inspect the damage at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Wednesday, the day after four people were killed.
Egyptian demonstrators continue to stake out the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Wednesday.
Police confront protesters praying in front of the U.S. Embassy in Casablanca, Morocco, during a rally against the anti-Islam film on Wednesday.
Moroccan women gather near the U.S. Embassy in Casablanca on Wednesday.
A Palestinian man holds a placard praising Islam's prophet Mohammed during a demonstration against the film on Wednesday in front of the United Nations headquarters in Gaza City.
Palestinian men burn the American flag during Wednesday's demonstration in Gaza City.
A man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames inside the U.S. Consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya, late on Tuesday, September 11.
The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is set on fire during a protest. Armed gunmen attacked the compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces before the latter withdrew as they came under heavy fire.
Protesters destroy an American flag pulled down from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
People stand around a drawing that says "Remember your black day 11 September" during the protest in Cairo.
People shout and light flares in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
People shout in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
Protesters pull down a U.S. flag.
Thousands were angered by the controversial film.
Demonstrators yell outside the U.S. Embassy.
Egyptian riot police stand guard as protesters climb down from the wall.
An Egyptian protester waves a black flag inscribed with the Muslim profession of faith -- "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God" -- as he stands above the door of the U.S. Embassy.
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- Box labeled "Cofin of Obama" burns with American flag in Bangladesh
- Violent protests wrack Pakistan, where at least 15 die, according to authorities
- Protests serve those who would turn back Arab Spring reforms, analyst says
- The United States, France and Germany all close some diplomatic facilities on Friday
Read a version of this story in Arabic
(CNN) -- Amid violent protests Friday that left 15 dead in Pakistan, a growing chorus of Muslims called on their fellow faithful to examine their own role in the chaos.
"The mindless and criminal actions of a few in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and elsewhere, which have already led to the deaths of innocents, threaten to do a great deal of harm and never seem to make a sensible point," Salman Shaikh, a Muslim and director of the Brookings Doha Center,
wrote in a CNN commentary.
In fact, Shaikh said, the protests do more to serve those who would like to turn back the democratic goals of Arab Spring movements across the Middle East and North Africa than they express legitimate complaints over the mocking of Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
Not all of the protests, which began last Tuesday, have been violent. Rallies in Lebanon and Malaysia on Friday were relatively peaceful.
Muslims mad at more than the movie?
Why the film upset so many Muslims
The man behind anti-Islam film
The protests were sparked by "The Innocence of Muslims," an amateurish 14-minute online film clip that mocks Mohammed and has offended many Muslims worldwide.
Then,
on Wednesday, the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the prophet that also fueled anger, prompting French officials to close diplomatic facilities in 20 countries Friday.
"It is no coincidence that the protests first took root in weakened states, such as Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, which are in the early stages of democratic transitions," Shaikh wrote. "While not all the protesters may know it, their actions are helping those who want to derail those transitions."
Opinion: #MuslimRage inspires comedic rage
Muslim Raheel Dhattiwala,
writing an essay Friday in The Hindu newspaper titled "The loneliness of a moderate Muslim," said that "if trashy lampooning by a convicted fraudster cannot be ignored, who cares if we shout from rooftops that ours is a 'religion of peace.' "
Such messages seemed to find some expression Friday in Libya, where protesters in Benghazi marched against the violent protests that resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and called for the disarmament of local militias.
Stevens and three other Americans died after a September 11 protest at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi over "The Innocence of Muslims."
Protesters angry about the film also breached the U.S. Embassy in Cairo last Tuesday, setting off days of protests in at least 20 countries.
Among Friday's other developments:
Violent protests in Pakistan
Violent protests blossomed across Pakistan despite
the government -- anticipating unrest -- suspending cell phone service Thursday night.
At least 15 people died and 78 were injured in protests in Peshawar and Karachi. Two police officers were among those killed in Karachi, authorities said.
Protesters burned three cinemas and two banks in Karachi, two senior police officials said. Protesters also torched two cinemas in Peshawar, authorities said.
In Karachi, angry protesters also smashed windows, set fire to tires in the streets and threw rocks at police who tried to keep them from government offices and shops, according to a senior police official. The violence there claimed at least nine lives, including at least two police officers, and injured 28 others, emergency spokesman Asif Farooqi said.
Protesters tried to reach the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, but police using tear gas and firing into the air turned them back, Farooqi said.
Local television news channels showed protesters throwing rocks at a KFC restaurant in Karachi.
In the northwest Pakistan city of Mardan, where police said thousands protested peacefully earlier in the day, a crowd of teenagers formed after Friday prayers and made their way to a church, senior police officials Khalid Nasim said.
"Despite the 15 police officers we had stationed at the church, the mob managed to break in and vandalize and destroy it," Nasim said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thanked the government of Pakistan for its efforts to protect U.S. facilities during the protests and deplored the loss of life.
"As I have said on numerous occasions, the violence we have seen cannot be tolerated," she said.
KFC shuts all its restaurants in Pakistan
In Peshawar, six people died and at least 50 people were injured -- including three police officers, according to Mujahid Khan, a spokesman for the city's emergency rescue service.
Crowds of protesters were reported in Islamabad, and CNN affiliate Geo TV reported protests in Rawalpindi and Karachi.
The protests come a day after about 100 children in Karachi chanted anti-American slogans during a protest in the coastal Pakistani city, a police official said.
Video showed children repeating an adult voice that said "Death to America" and "Any friend of America is a traitor."
Government officials warned Friday of "strict action" in response to the destruction of property.
"We have also alerted the army; if things get worse, they will come in," Pakistan's interior minister, Rehman Malik, told reporters Friday afternoon in Islamabad.
"I said it yesterday and I'm saying it again, we mean business," he said.
Other protests in Lebanon, Malaysia, Bangladesh
Demonstrators turned out across Bangladesh on Friday to protest the film, according to the state-run BSS news agency.
Video showed protesters in Dhaka carrying signs with slogans such as "Kill us, but don't insult our Prophet Mohammed" and burning a box draped in an American flag, labeled "Cofin of Obama."
In Lebanon, supporters of Hezbollah, a militant Islamist group deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, marched Friday in a peaceful demonstration "in support of the Prophet Mohammed," Hezbollah TV channel al-Manar reported Friday.
Video showed a stream of people marching slowly down the streets with signs reading, "Loyalty and the victory of the Prophet Mohammed."
Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency, reported that thousands of Malaysians protested peacefully Friday against the film and cartoons in Kuala Lumpur.
Khairy Jamaluddin, head of the youth wing of the Malaysian political party United Malays National Organization, said the United States and France should take immediate steps to punish those behind the film and cartoons, according to Bernama.
"If they do not do so, we should regard that as a direct insult to Islam," he said, according to the news agency.
Diplomatic facilities close
In Indonesia, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, its consular offices in Surabaya and Bali and two other facilities were closed Friday because of expected demonstrations. The U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur closed Friday morning before the protests there began.
The government of France, bracing for possible backlash against the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, closed facilities in 20 countries Friday, according to a statement on the Foreign Affairs Ministry website.
Germany also closed its embassy in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum on Friday in anticipation of protests over the cartoon published in Charlie Hebdo, state-run Ashorooq TV reported.
"Security measures have been tightened at other diplomatic missions abroad," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.
Last week, protesters in Sudan's capital city managed to get inside a compound that is shared by the German and British diplomatic missions, according to the foreign ministers of both nations.
Tunisian authorities ban all demonstrations Friday
Seeking to avoid a repeat of what happened one week earlier, Tunisia's government banned all demonstrations Friday, the state-run Tunisian News Agency (TAP) reported, citing a statement from the Interior Ministry.
The report said the protest ban is "in accordance with the provisions of the state of emergency" that has been in place since the January ouster of its longtime president, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.
The statement refers to "calls launched via social networks" to demonstrate over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. And it comes a week after four protesters died and 49 were wounded during an assault on the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Tunis, TAP previously reported, citing Souad Sadraoui, interim general director of Charles Nicolle Hospital.
Presidential spokesman Adnene Mansar denounced Charlie Hebdo's publication of the cartoons as a "deliberate insult," adding that "some circles are deliberately seeking to stir up tension in relations binding the Muslim and Western worlds."
"We should not fall in the trap of provocation, we should rather denounce these acts by peaceful means," Mansar said, according to a TAP report.
In another TAP report, National Constituent Assembly Speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar said that the bloody September 14 protests "do not reflect the mood of the moderate and tolerant Tunisian people."
"Political, ideological and religious violence is (no) longer tolerated in present-day Tunisia," Jaafar said in Strasbourg in eastern France, calling abiding by the "rule of law ... an absolute priority."
CNN's Amir Ahmed, Shaan Khan and Reza Sayah contributed to this report.
