Protesters attack US embassy in Jakarta

Islamic demonstrators angry at depictions of the Prophet Muhammad turned their wrath on the US embassy in Jakarta today, beating…

Islamic demonstrators angry at depictions of the Prophet Muhammad turned their wrath on the US embassy in Jakarta today, beating on the gate with sticks and pelting the building with tomatoes, eggs and stones.

The missiles shattered glass in the guard post and cracked fibreglass-like material in the gate.

More than 200 white-clad members of Indonesia's militant Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) were protesting over Danish cartoons lampooning the Prophet as well as his depiction in a sculpture at the US Supreme Court in Washington.

About 50 police were on hand but unable to keep the protesters away from the gate, witnesses said.

READ MORE

Many Muslims believe that it is blasphemous to publish images of the Prophet.

An embassy statement said the US government deplored the violence, adding: "Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe said that this was a pre-meditated event that was staged for television by a small group which seeks to disrupt the relationship between the United States and Indonesia by inflaming popular opinion."

"This sort of thuggery is unacceptable and needs to be treated as what it is."

The statement said that the United States shared Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's view "that the cartoon issue should not be used as a wedge between cultures".

The Muhammad depiction at the U.S. Supreme Court that was an added issue in the latest protest is one of a number showing historical figures viewed as lawgivers and sculpted in the 1930s.