Envoy's killing possible terror strike

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Egyptian protesters chant anti-U.S. slogans during a demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. (NASSER NASSER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Stoking the anger

MUSLIM anger over perceived western insults to Islam has exploded several times, most recently in protests this week against U.S. diplomatic posts in the Middle East. The violence, fuelled mostly by religious zealots, reflects the tension between Muslims and the secular West that followed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Here are some of the most serious incidents:

 

• Muhammad cartoons

The September 2005 publication by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad unleashed a wave of violent protests by Muslims, who believe any image of their religion's founder is forbidden. Dozens of people were killed in weeks of protests that included violent attacks against Danish missions in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Lebanon. At least six people were killed in a June 2008 suicide bombing at the Danish Embassy in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Al-Qaida claimed responsibility, citing anger over the cartoons. The Danish government described the Muslim backlash as the country's worst international crisis since the Second World War.

• The Satanic Verses

British author Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, inspired in part by the life of Muhammad, won kudos from critics in Britain but prompted outrage among many Muslims, who considered it slanderous. Deadly riots against the book erupted in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Mumbai, India, and the book was banned in South Africa, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and several other countries. Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a religious edict in 1989 calling for Rushdie's death, leading the writer to live in hiding for a decade. Although Rushdie was never physically harmed, his Japanese translator was stabbed to death in 1991 and his Italian translator was injured in a stabbing that same year.

• Van Gogh assassination

Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, an outspoken critic of Islam whose film Submission criticized the treatment of Muslim women, was shot dead in November 2004 as he bicycled in the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam. A 26-year-old Dutch citizen of Moroccan origin, Mohammed Bouyeri, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Van Gogh's assassination set off a wave of more than 170 small reprisal attacks against mosques and churches over the following weeks.

• "Burn a Qur'an day"

A 2010 call by Florida preacher Terry Jones to burn Qur'ans on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 alarmed the U.S. military, which feared the move would endanger American troops fighting Islamist extremists in Afghanistan and Iraq. Although Jones called off the burning, thousands of Afghans, encouraged by the Taliban, set fire to tires in the streets of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

 

-- The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration, roiled by the first killing of a U.S. ambassador in more than 30 years, is investigating whether the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was a planned terrorist strike to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and not a spontaneous mob enraged over an anti-Islam YouTube video.

U.S. President Barack Obama declared in a White House appearance the U.S. would "work with the Libyan government to bring to justice" those who killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The attack on the Benghazi consulate was "a planned, co-ordinated, well-executed military-style event," House intelligence committee chairman Mike Rogers said.

In a show of force, the Pentagon moved two warships to the Libyan coast. Officials said one destroyer, the USS Laboon, moved to a position off the coast Wednesday, and the destroyer USS McFaul was en route and should be stationed off the coast within days, increasing the number of navy destroyers in the Mediterranean from four to five.

Officials said the ships, which carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, do not have a specific mission. But they give commanders flexibility to respond to any mission the president orders.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said, "Without commenting on specific ship movements, the United States military regularly takes precautionary steps when potential contingencies might arise in a given situation. That's not only logical in certain circumstances, it's the prudent thing to do."

At the same time, some 50 U.S. marines headed to Libya to reinforce security at U.S. diplomatic facilities, initially at the American Embassy in Tripoli, not Benghazi.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss troop movements.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said it was too early to judge whether the Benghazi attack was planned.

"I know that this is being investigated, and we're working with the Libyan government to investigate the incident. I would not want to speculate on that at this time," he said. Several Libyan security guards also were killed.

Rogers (R-Mich.) said U.S. intelligence had not yet determined who was responsible, but added, "Our list is narrowing."

"When you see (such an attack), it wasn't some folks who had some guns in their garage and said 'Let's shoot up the consulate,' " Rogers said in an interview Wednesday.

The FBI was sending evidence teams to Libya, said a law enforcement official.

Meanwhile, Canada is reviewing the security situation at its embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli in the wake of the "senseless" killing of American diplomats in the eastern city of Benghazi, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Thursday.

"As you would expect, we'll re-evaluate the environment, as we regularly do for our personnel in Tripoli," Baird said Wednesday from India, where he was on an official visit.

Baird offered Canada's strong condemnation and deep regret at the death of Stevens, 52, and three of his staff at the hands of "extremists" who appeared to be part of a violent protest outside the U.S. diplomatic post in eastern Libya.

"It's an attack on diplomacy," he said, adding Foreign Affairs continually updates the security environment for Canadian personnel.

"We call upon Libyan authorities to take all necessary measures to protect diplomatic premises in accordance with Libya's international obligations. We also urge Libyan officials to ensure the extremists responsible are brought to swift justice."

Analysts are working on several different scenarios based on intelligence that could lead to a motive for the attack. Some concern the possibility of targeting high-ranking officials, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. But none of the intelligence has suggested terrorists would specifically target Stevens, said the official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

The attack in Libya, which came hours after a mob stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the U.S. flag, was presumed to have been triggered by a movie, whose trailer has gone viral on YouTube, depicting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in disrespectful ways. In an extraordinary move, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, called anti-Islamic preacher Terry Jones and asked him to stop promoting the film. A spokeswoman said the church would not show the film Wednesday evening.

-- The Associated Press / file from CP

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 13, 2012 A9