Category: Foreign Affairs

PARIS, Sept 19 — A French satirical magazine on Wednesday published a series of cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad, setting off a new wave of outrage among Muslims and condemnation from French leaders amid widening unrest over an amateur video that has provoked violence throughout the Islamic world. The illustrations were met with a swift rebuke from the government of François Hollande, which had earlier urged the magazine, Charlie Hebdo, not to publish the cartoons, particularly in the current tense environment.

“In France, there is a principle of freedom of expression, which should not be undermined,” Laurent Fabius, the foreign minister, said in a French radio interview. “In the present context, given this absurd video that has been aired, strong emotions have been awakened in many Muslim countries. Is it really sensible or intelligent to pour oil on the fire?”

In the interview on France Info radio, Mr. Fabius announced that, as a precaution, France planned to close its embassies in 20 countries on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, which has become an occasion for many to express their anger although “no threats have been made against any institutions.” A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the closings would affect French consulates, cultural centers and schools as well.

In Egypt, representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood denounced the cartoons as blasphemous and hurtful, and called upon the French judiciary to condemn the magazine.

Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the group, noted that French law prohibits Holocaust denial and suggested that similar provisions might be made for comments deemed blasphemous under Islam.

“If anyone doubts the Holocaust happened, they are imprisoned,” Mr. Ghozlan told Reuters. “It is not fair or logical” that the same not be the case for insults to Islam, he said.

Religious and political leaders in other majority Muslim nations also denounced the cartoons but called for calm. Tunisia’s governing Islamist party, Ennahda, warned believers against falling into a trap set by “suspicious parties to derail the Arab Spring and turn it into a conflict with the West,” Reuters reported.

Charlie Hebdo’s Web site was not functioning on Wednesday, the result of a computer attack, according to the editorial director, Stéphane Charbonnier. A Pakistani technology news outlet, ProPakistani, reported that a Pakistani hacker group claimed it had blocked the site because of its “blasphemous contents” about Muhammad. The violence provoked by the video disparaging the prophet began on Sept. 11 when a mob attacked the American Embassy in Cairo. The unrest quickly spread to Libya, where an attack on an American diplomatic mission in Benghazi claimed the lives of the American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, and three staff members.

On Wednesday, police officers were dispatched to guard the offices of Charlie Hebdo in eastern Paris.

The magazine’s headquarters, not far from its present offices, were gutted by a firebomb in November after it published a spoof issue “guest edited” by Muhammad to salute the victory of an Islamist party in Tunisian elections. Mr. Charbonnier, the editorial director, has been under police protection since.

Neither he nor the publication had received threats as a result of the most recent issue of the magazine, he said.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the government would prohibit a series of protests that had been planned in several French cities for Saturday — one week after a group of around 250 people staged a largely nonviolent protest of the American-made amateur film, “Innocence of Muslims,” outside the American Embassy here.

“There is no reason for us to let a conflict that doesn’t concern France come into our country,” Mr. Ayrault told RTL radio. “We are a republic that has no intention of being intimidated by anyone.”

Mr. Charbonnier contested that decision, which he called “shocking.”

“The government needs to be consistent,” he said. “Why should they prohibit these people from expressing themselves? We have the right to express ourselves, they have they right to express themselves, too.”

In a statement, the main body representing Muslims in France, the French Muslim Council, expressed its “deep concern” over the cartoons and warned that their publication risked “exacerbating tensions and provoking reactions.” The council urged French Muslims to express their grievances “via legal means.”

Mr. Charbonnier said the weekly published the cartoons in defense of freedom of the press, adding that the images “would shock only those who wanted to be shocked.”

Gérard Biard, the magazine’s editor in chief, said: “We’re a newspaper that respects French law. Now, if there’s a law that is different in Kabul or Riyadh, we’re not going to bother ourselves with respecting it.”

This week as every other week, Mr. Biard insisted, “We’ve simply commented on the news.” The caricatures are meant to satirize the video that has stirred violence across the Muslim world, he said, and to denounce that violence as absurd.

“What are we supposed to do when there’s news like this?” Mr. Biard asked. “Are we supposed to not do that news?”

Known for its sharply ironic and often vulgar tone, Charlie Hebdo has a reputation for being an equal-opportunity provocateur. In addition to episode in November, the magazine was criticized for a decision in 2006 to republish cartoons of Muhammad that first appeared in a Danish newspaper.

In an editorial on Wednesday, Le Monde, France’s newspaper of record, defended the magazine’s right to publish what it pleases, within the limits of French law. But it called the most recent caricatures “in poor taste, or even appalling” and questioned the “sense of responsibility of their authors and editors.”

Mr. Charbonnier held firm.

“I’m sorry for the people who are shocked when they read Charlie Hedbo,” Mr. Charbonnier said. “But let them save 2.50 euros and not read it. That’s the only thing I have to say.

“They can’t hold us responsible for the closure of the embassies, they can’t hold us responsible for the violence and the deaths,” he said. “We’re not provoking anything.” Religious radicals can use “any pretext to start the fire,” he said.

The U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed when suspected Libyan religious extremists stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi late Tuesday night, according to Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagour. Margaret Coker has the latest on The News Hub.

The killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, in one of the most brazen attacks on a U.S. diplomatic compound in a generation, sparked a security crisis in the North African country, elevated tensions across the Middle East and raised concerns about how well the U.S. can protect its diplomats abroad.

The U.S. responded to the assault by dispatching two Navy destroyers, dozens of Marines, federal investigators and intelligence assets to Libya to protect Americans and hunt the suspected religious extremists who carried out the attack late Tuesday. U.S. officials described the attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens as complex and possibly premeditated.

The assault, along with a protest at the American embassy in Cairo, created a crisis atmosphere in Washington just as the presidential campaign is hitting its stretch run and fueled a harsh exchange between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney.

Mr. Obama said the U.S. will work with the Libyan government to bring attackers to justice, but he and other officials didn’t rule out a unilateral U.S. strike. “Make no mistake, justice will be done,” the president said.

What’s the likely fallout from the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya as well as the storming of U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt? Eurasia Group Middle East and North Africa Analyst Hani Sabra discusses on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters.

The attack took place on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, a day when security officials are typically on heightened alert. American officials, who debriefed survivors, described a horrifying scene in the consulate where, amid thick smoke and gunfire, Mr. Stevens became separated from his security officer.

As the flames grew and attacks increased, personnel were forced to abandon the building without the ambassador. American officials retrieved his body when it was brought to the airport the next day by Libyans.

An Obama administration official declined to comment on the ambassador’s security measures but said a review conducted ahead of the anniversary found “no information and there were no threat streams to indicate that we were insufficiently postured.”

U.S. officials were still piecing together the day’s events, which followed protests at the U.S. embassy in Cairo over an anti-Islamic video. In contrast to the Cairo protest, which appeared to be spontaneous, U.S. officials said the attack in Benghazi late Tuesday night might have been planned by militants who used the protests as cover.

American intelligence agencies were poring over information that could help indicate what groups may have taken part. Officials said intelligence agencies are looking specifically at the pro-al Qaeda group Ansar al Shariah but cautioned they didn’t have solid evidence.

Nearly 24 hours after the start of the shooting, officials struggled to piece together details about what transpired through hours of chaos and terror inside the darkened consulate and a nearby annex. They warned that their preliminary version of events could change as more information became available.

Nearby, Benghazi residents described a harrowing scene of destructive mob violence. A Libyan doctor said he and several neighbors attempted to get the gang of about 200 armed men to leave as they marched toward the U.S. compound. “We told them to leave our homes alone and one [of the militants] replied, ‘The Americans are infidels and we are going to finish them,’ the doctor said. “Many of us then fled because the shooting started.”

Ali Ben Saud, the Libyan owner of the villa leased to the U.S. for the consulate, said the men arrived in the neighborhood around 8 p.m. local time, carrying weapons including rocket-propelled grenade launchers and automatic rifles.

The handful of local security forces were overwhelmed. “We couldn’t stop them. They were multiplying, minute by minute. There were hundreds of them,” said Saleheddine al-Arghoubi, a neighborhood resident. “They didn’t come to talk. They came to fight.” The first shots were fired at around 10 p.m. local time, or 4 p.m. Eastern time, according to a preliminary U.S. account.

The attackers gained access to the compound and began firing into the main building, setting it afire. A senior administration official said three people were inside the compound at the time: Mr. Stevens; Sean Smith, a foreign service information-management officer; and a U.S. regional security officer.

As the three tried to leave the burning building, they became separated from each other in heavy smoke. The regional security officer, whose name hadn’t been disclosed by late Wednesday, made it outside, and then he and other security personnel rushed back into the burning building to try to rescue Mr. Stevens and Mr. Smith. They found Mr. Smith, already dead.

They were unable to find the ambassador before being forced to flee the building because of the heavy flames and continuing small-arms fire.

Around 10:45 p.m. local time, U.S. security personnel assigned to a nearby annex tried to regain control of the main building but came under heavy fire and returned to the annex. At around midnight, the mission annex came under fire. Two U.S. diplomats were killed during that attack and two others were wounded.

At around 2:30 a.m. local time, Libyan security forces regained control of the situation, according to the preliminary U.S. account. Mr. Obama was told Tuesday night that Mr. Stevens was unaccounted for.

According to Mr. Ben Saud, the landowner, Libyan security guards jumped into the compound and pulled Mr. Stevens from the burning building at around 1 a.m. local time. Libyans then drove him to Benghazi Central Hospital, where the staff there tried unsuccessfully to revive him. One Libyan doctor said the diplomat died of asphyxiation and that he tried for 90 minutes to revive him, according to the Associated Press

Obama administration officials said they didn’t know what condition the ambassador was in when he left the compound. “His body was later returned to U.S. personnel at the Benghazi airport,” an administration official said. A chartered aircraft evacuated U.S. personnel back to Tripoli, including the remains of those killed.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the attack should “shock the conscience” of people of all faiths, but wouldn’t alter U.S. policy in Libya. The “mission in Libya is noble and necessary…and will continue,” she said from Washington. The U.S. also announced increased security measures for all U.S. diplomatic facilities.

Libyan officials, many of whom led the rebel government based in Benghazi and worked with Mr. Stevens during that time, condemned the killings. The head of the new congress, Mohammed Magarief, apologized to the American public for the tragedy. By late Wednesday, no one had been arrested. Officials in Tripoli were scrambling to implement a response to what they admitted was a monumental security breach.

Egyptian protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and replaced the flag with a black standard bearing an Islamic inscription, in protest of a film deemed offensive to the Prophet Muhammad. Matt Bradley has details on The News Hub.

The U.S. responded by sending two destroyers, the U.S.S. Laboon and the U.S.S. McFaul, to the Libyan coast to aid in any evacuations or humanitarian missions, said a U.S. official.

In addition, a U.S. Marine team was sent to supplement security at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, arriving there Wednesday. The unit is known as a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team, or FAST team, and typically numbers 50 Marines.

Mr. Stevens is the first ambassador killed by hostile forces since 1979, when the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan was murdered in Kabul. Officials said intelligence agencies were now trying to determine if any threads of information may have been missed.

American intelligence agencies are poring over threat information that could help indicate what groups may have taken part in the attack.

Members of the Ansar al Shariah militant group gave an interview to the local television station from the hospital early Wednesday morning, praising the men who attacked the consulate, calling them “the top layer of Libyan society.” However, the members told Benghazi TV that their organization, a group of religious fighters who battled to help oust Moammar Gadhafi from power, didn’t plan the attack against the Americans.

Mr. Stevens, 52, who is usually based in the capital Tripoli, apparently was visiting Benghazi ahead of the planned opening of a U.S. cultural center there, said a Libyan official.

The attack on the U.S. consulate was the second this year. In June, suspected Islamic militants detonated an improvised explosive device at the same compound. A Libyan guard was injured, but no Americans were harmed. In the spring, the International Committee for the Red Cross offices in Benghazi were also targeted.

Washington has long been leery of the radical Islamic fringe in Libya. The largest number of foreign fighters in Iraq waging battles against U.S. soldiers were from two towns in eastern Libya, and U.S. drones have monitored those locations since the Libyan uprising last year.

—Siobhan Gorman, Devlin Barrett and Carol E. Lee contributed to this article.

Ohio, Sept 2 — Arriving from Kuwait to attend college here, Mai Alhamad wondered how Americans would receive a Muslim, especially one whose head scarf broadcasts her religious identity.

At any of the countless secular universities she might have chosen, religion — at least in theory — would be beside the point. But she picked one that would seem to underline her status as a member of a religious minority. She enrolled at the University of Dayton, a Roman Catholic school, and she says it suits her well.

“Here, people are more religious, even if they’re not Muslim, and I am comfortable with that,” said Ms. Alhamad, an undergraduate in civil engineering, as several other Muslim women gathered in the student center nodded in agreement. “I’m more comfortable talking to a Christian than an atheist.”

A decade ago, the University of Dayton, with 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students, had just 12 from predominantly Muslim countries, all of them men, said Amy Anderson, the director of the school’s Center for International Programs. Last year, she said, there were 78, and about one-third of them were women.

The flow of students from the Muslim world into American colleges and universities has grown sharply in recent years, and women, though still far outnumbered by men, account for a rising share.

No definitive figures are available, but interviews with students and administrators at several Catholic institutions indicate an even faster rate of growth there, with the Muslim student population generally doubling over the past decade, and the number of Muslim women tripling or more.

At those schools, Muslim students, from the United States or abroad, say they prefer a place where talk of religious beliefs and adherence to a religious code are accepted and even encouraged, socially and academically. Correctly or not, many of them say they believe that they are more accepted than they would be at secular schools.

“I like the fact that there’s faith, even if it’s not my faith, and I feel my faith is respected,” said Maha Haroon, a pre-med undergraduate at Creighton University in Omaha, who was born in Pakistan and grew up in the United States. “I don’t have to leave my faith at home when I come to school.”

She and her twin sister, Zoha, said they chose Creighton based in part on features rooted in its religious identity, like community service requirements and theology classes that shed light on how different faiths approach ethical issues.

Many Muslim students, particularly women, say they based their college choices partly on the idea that Catholic schools would be less permissive than others in the United States, though the behavior they say they witness later can call that into question.

They like the prevalence of single-sex floors in dorms, and even single-sex dorms at some schools. “I thought it would be a better fit for me, more traditional, a little more conservative,” said Shameela Idrees, a Pakistani undergraduate in business at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., who at first lived in an all-women dorm.

Some of the women land at Catholic schools more or less accidentally — some are married and simply enroll where their husbands are going, while others are steered toward particular schools by their home countries’ governments.

But for others it is a conscious choice, based on recommendations from friends or relatives, or impressions gained from growing up in places, like Lebanon, with strong traditions of church schools.

Most of the schools say they do not specifically recruit Muslim students.

“There’s no conscious effort,” said the Rev. Kail Ellis, a priest and vice president for academic affairs at Villanova University, near Philadelphia. “It’s basically something that happened through word of mouth and reputation.”

Muslim students here cite the accommodations Dayton has made, like setting aside spaces for them to pray — a small room for daily use, and two larger ones for Fridays — and installing an ablution room for the traditional preprayer washing of hands and feet.

The university also helps students arrange celebrations of major religious holidays, and it contracts with a halal meat supplier for special events.

Manal Alsharekh, a Saudi Arabian graduate student in engineering at Dayton, said, “I was in another university before that did not respect us so much.”

Even so, the adjustment to an American school can be jarring, especially for women. They are a minority even within the minority of Muslim students. Many of them follow restrictions on interaction with nonrelatives, and the head coverings most of them wear make it impossible to blend in.

The degree of culture shock students experience varies as widely as the traditions they grew up in. Some eat the nonhalal meat served daily in school cafeterias, some eat it only after saying a blessing over it and others do not eat it at all.

In a gathering of foreign-born Muslim women here, traditional attire varied widely, from Ayse Cayli, a graduate student from Turkey who does not cover her head and wore shorts and a T-shirt, to Mrs. Alsharekh, who while in public wears a floor-length cloak over her clothes and a veil across most of her face. Most wear a hijab, or head covering, and stylish but fairly conservative Western clothes extending to the ankles and wrists, even in warm weather.

The prospect of walking into an identifiably Christian institution, often for the first time in their lives, can be intimidating.

“I was afraid they will not like me because I am Muslim, or they will want me to go to church,” said Falah Nasser Garoot, a male Saudi graduate student in business at Xavier University in Cincinnati. “At first, when I saw the crosses on the classroom walls, it was very strange for me.”

Fatema Albalooshi, a graduate student from Bahrain who is studying engineering at Dayton, said that when she first looked into the school, “I thought it was going to be compulsory to take Catholic courses.”

And for the women, especially, identifiable by their head scarves, there are always questions. “People stop and ask me questions, total strangers, about my head covering, they’re curious about how I dress,” said Hadil Issa, an undergraduate here who grew up in the Palestinian territories and the United States. The more covering they wear, the more women are asked if they get hot in the summer. Muslims are consulted on etiquette by students planning to visit the Middle East. And often, they are asked why they attend a Catholic school.

“I tell people the atmosphere is very warm and supportive,” Ms. Issa said. “I feel accepted here, and that’s what matters.”