Thais Condemn Anti-Islam Movie
Several hundred Muslims, many waving banners rallied outside the U.S. Embassy and Google offices in Bangkok on September 27 to denounce an anti-Islam film that has sparked global protests.
The demonstration saw a brief scuffle as protesters tried to surge towards the United States Embassy through lines of riot officers, but police said it passed largely peacefully with no one seriously injured.
The rally was the latest in a wave of protests against a low-budget film entitled "Innocence of Muslims" believed to have been produced by a small group of extremist Christians in the United States.
A procession of demonstrators later petitioned Internet giant Google, asking the company to ban the film, which was hosted on its video sharing site YouTube.
"I acknowledge that this is an important issue," said Google Thailand representative Peter Fretten, who met the group and spoke to them in Thai, offering to forward the protesters' concerns to the company's headquarters.
Buddhist-majority Thailand has about 1.2 million Muslims -- about four percent of the population -- according to the latest available data, many living in the country's southern states near the Malaysian border.
By Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
Hundreds Hold Protests against Anti-Islam Film, Cartoons in Istanbul
Germans Hold Protest against Anti-Islam Movie
Pakistanis Stage New Protests against Anti-Islam Film
Palestinians Protest Anti-Islam Film, Cartoons
