Yemeni protesters storm US embassy
Hundreds of Yemeni protesters stormed the US embassy in Sanaa today, burning its flag and torching cars in the latest swell of surge of violence against American diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.
By Raf Sanchez, Washington, with agencies
10:01AM BST 13 Sep 2012
Young demonstrators shouted "We sacrifice ourselves for you, Messenger of God" as they smashed through the main gate and torched cars at the heavily fortified compound in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital.
Witnesses said security forces initially made no effort to stop the crowd but later opened fire with bullets, tear gas and water cannon as they drove the demonstrators back. One person was reported to have been killed and another 15 wounded.
"We can see a fire inside the compound and security forces are firing in the air. The demonstrators are fleeing and then charging back," one witness said.
The crowd hurled burning tyres into the courtyard and television footage showed one man driving a forklift that he used to pick up a vehicle outside the embassy.
The US said that all its personnel were "safe and accounted for" following the protest against an anti-Islamic film that depicted the Prophet Mohammed in sexually compromising positions.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the amateur film, titled "The Innocence of Muslim" and stressed that the US government had nothing to do with it.
"To us, to me, personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible. It appears to have a deeply cynical purpose, to denigrate a great religion and to provoke rage," Mrs Clinton said, calling on all goverment and religious leaders to draw the line at violence.
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi offered "a personal apology" to President Barack Obama over the Yemen incident and ordered an immediate investigation, according to state media.
The clash came two days after Chris Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans were killed in what appeared to a well-planned assault on the American consulate in Benghazi.
Libya's government said it had made a wave of arrests in relation to the attack but gave few details, as the US quietly mounted the pressure on the young democracy to move against the killers.
Last night the US ordered two warships, both armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, to sail for the Libyan coast but the White House made no announcement of immediate action and Mr Obama is seen to have relatively few options besides supporting Libya's own security forces.
As more details of the attack in Benghazi filtered a picture of a chaotic and confused response to the apparently professional assault emerged.
Libyan officials told Reuters that the US sent a team only eight soldiers to relieve the stranded diplomats in Benghazi even though the militants were heavily armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.
Captain Fathi al-Obeidi, a Libyan special forces officer tasked with supporting the US relief force as it headed for the consulate, said that he had been told he was only evacuating 10 people but instead found 37 Americans and Libyans sheltering in the consulate.
The unexpectedly large numbers forced him to wait at the under-fire compound and reinforcements and more vehicles could be sent.
"I was being bombarded by calls from all over the country by Libyan government officials who wanted me to hurry and get them out," he said. "But I told them that we were in such difficult circumstances and that I needed more men and more cars."
Clashes continued outside the US Embassy in Cairo on Thursday morning and around 70 people were reported injured in clashes throughout the night and into the day. The fortress-like facility was the scene of the first clashes on Tuesday night, where protesters again breached the walls and tore down the American flag.
Mohammed Morsi, the new Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt, did not immediately condemn the attack, prompting Mr Obama to say of Egypt: ""I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy."
The relationship between the Islamist president and the US remains strained, although earlier this year the White House moved ahead with a transfer of more than $1 billion in military aid.
