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German embassy stormed in Sudan

September 14, 2012

Sudan's police force used tear gas on Friday in a bid to stop more than 5,000 demonstrators from storming the German and British embassies, but some protesters still made it through the gates of the German embassy.

https://p.dw.com/p/168yp
A Sudanese demonstrator gestures during a protest against an amateur film mocking Islam outside the German embassy in Khartoum on September 14, 2012. The low-budget movie called "Innocence of Muslims", which ridicules the Prophet Mohammed and portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent, has triggered protests in several countries. AFP PHOTO / ASHRAF SHAZLY (Photo credit should read ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/GettyImages)
Image: AFP/Getty Images

Protesters threw stones at the two neighboring embassies in Khartoum before they stormed the main gates of the German embassy. They attacked its facade and tore down the flag, replacing it with a black Islamic one before setting fire to the building, one witness said.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle confirmed the attack on Friday but said that the embassy's staff is safe.

Sudanese demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against an amateur film mocking Islam outside the German embassy in Khartoum on September 14, 2012. The low-budget movie called "Innocence of Muslims", which ridicules the Prophet Mohammed and portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent, has triggered protests in several countries. AFP PHOTO / ASHRAF SHAZLY (Photo credit should read ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/GettyImages)
Protestors outside the German embassy in KhartoumImage: AFP/Getty Images

He also said Sudan's ambassador in Berlin had been summoned and reminded "in no uncertain terms of the duty of his government to protect diplomatic institutions."

Due to similar protests and attacks at American embassies and consulates that started earlier this week, Germany had already raised security levels at its foreign diplomatic posts on Friday.

The incidents at the American institutions were triggered, at least in part, by scenes from a privately made film denigrating Islam that were translated into Arabic and posted on YouTube.

The film, called "Innocence of Muslims," portrays the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, homosexual and child abuser. Putting the negative imagery to one side, even the pictorial portrayal of Muhammad is forbidden in Islamic dogma. The person behind the film used a pseudonym and is in hiding.

mz/jlw (Reuters, dpa, AFP)