Cairo: Egyptian police Saturday cleared out protesters who have been clashing with security forces for the past four days near the US Embassy as most cities around the Muslim world reported calm a day after at least six people were killed in a wave of angry protests over a film deemed offensive to Islam.
Security forces erected a concrete wall blocking the main street leading to the embassy in Cairo after finally dispersing several hundred youths who had been battling with police, trying to get to the building.
They also cleared nearby Tahrir Square where protests were being held.
In most countries, protests were peaceful, if vehement.
But deadly clashes erupted in several places, protesters in Sudan and Tunisia tried to storm Western embassies, an American fast-food restaurant was set ablaze in Lebanon, and international peacekeepers were attacked in the Sinai.
In Cairo, the clashes yesterday brought the first Egyptian to be killed in Tahrir Square protests since Islamist President Mohammed Mursi was elected and took office this summer.
A 36-year-old died from wounds from rubber bullets, his family and doctors at a Cairo hospital said. Weeping relatives at the hospital held his 25-day-old daughter, named Ganna, or "Heaven."
Two demonstrators died in Sudan, two died in Tunisia and another was killed in Lebanon. On Thursday, four Yemeni protesters were killed in protests that turned violent at the US Embassy in Sanaa.
The only report today of violence linked to the film came from Sydney, Australia, where rot police clashed with about 200 protesters at the US Consulate.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 10:30