The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fragile calm in place after week of violence
Egyptian security forces crack down on protesters. Violence raises stability concerns.
Under intense pressure from Washington, Egyptian security forces moved Saturday to end the violent demonstrations around the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, arresting scores of protesters as political leaders struggled to deal with the fallout caused by the week of unrest.
Across the region, the anti-American protests that convulsed capitals in many parts of the Islamic world last week subsided, a fragile calm taking hold one day after violent and sometimes deadly demonstrations spread to nearly 20 countries, with angry mobs attacking U.S. Embassies and targeting those of Germany and Britain.
In Cairo, where the protests against a crude video denigrating Islam began on Tuesday, security forces arrested hundreds of protesters and expanded the fortifications around the U.S. Embassy. Despite the newly built concrete barrier, hundreds of young men battled security forces on three other nearby fronts, hurling rocks and sometimes gas bombs as the police fired back with canisters of tear gas. By midday, however, security forces had cleared the streets and only a faint scent of tear gas remained.
Even as the violence abated, al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen released a statement urging followers to fight to “expel the embassies of America from the lands of the Muslims” and “to set the fires blazing at these embassies.”
The violence raised questions in the West about political instability in Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle East countries where newfound freedoms have given way to an absence of authority. The State Department on Saturday ordered the departure of all family members and non-essential U.S. government personnel from posts in Sudan and Tunisia and is issuing travel warnings to American citizens in the two countries due to security concerns over anti-American violence.
In Egypt, leaders sought to repair deep strains with Washington provoked by their initial response to attacks on the U.S. Embassy, tacitly acknowledging that they erred in their response by focusing more on anti-American domestic opinion than on condemning the violence.
The toll of the demonstrations became clearer on Saturday, with Egyptian state news media reporting that at least one person had died in the clashes. A 35-year-old man was killed by shotgun fire; state media said he had a long criminal record. More than 224 people have been injured in four days of street battles, according to state media, and by Friday at least 99 Egyptian security officers had been hurt.
Across the region, there were scattered reports of deaths, some in confrontations with security forces, others in the chaos of the riots. While it is unclear exactly how many people died over six days of protests, it appeared there were around a dozen casualties.
In Libya, new details continued to emerge that indicated the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, where four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, was planned and coordinated to a degree not seen elsewhere. Young men in Benghazi reported that the interim authorities appeared to be rounding up many who were present at the attack.
On Saturday, President Barack Obama offered praise for the service of the Americans who were killed and vowed that America’s resolve would not be shaken.
“As we mourn their loss, we must also send a clear and resolute message to the world: those who attack our people will find no escape from justice. We will not waver in their pursuit,” he said in his weekly radio address.
Political leaders in countries rocked by violence stepped up their calls for calm.
In Tunis, where the U.S. Embassy was attacked on Friday by protesters who smashed windows and set fires before being routed, the moderate Islamist party that governs the country, Ennahda, condemned the attacks.
The party warned that such violence threatened the country’s progress toward democracy after decades of dictatorship. The youth wing of Ennahda said in an emailed statement that both the film that prompted the protests and the violence should be condemned.
Some of the worst violence on Friday was in Sudan, where about 5,000 demonstrators had massed, news reports said, before moving on to the U.S. Embassy on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum.
Sudanese police on Saturday said that two protesters had died in a “traffic accident” that resulted from the chaos on Friday.
The violence even spilled over into Sydney, where riot officers clashed with about 200 protesters rallying against the film.