EU calls to end violent clashes over anti-Islam film

PanARMENIAN.Net - Western countries have appealed for an end to violent protests targeting their embassies, sparked by a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad, BBC News reported.

The EU urged leaders in Arab and Muslim countries to "call immediately for peace and restraint".

The U.S. is sending marines to defend its embassy in Khartoum and has called on Sudan to protect foreign diplomats. At least seven people died in protests in Khartoum, Tunis and Cairo on Friday, Sept 14, and there are fears of further unrest.

Protests in Egypt have spread, with demonstrators breaking into a base holding multi-national peacekeepers in Sinai, and clashes outside the American consulate in the coastal city Alexandria.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban said their attack on the huge Camp Bastion Nato base, in which two US marines were killed, was carried out in response to the film.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso condemned the attacks as unacceptable and against "the rules of the civilized world."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged "national authorities in all countries concerned to swiftly ensure the security of diplomatic missions and protect diplomatic staff".

"It is vitally important that leaders across the affected regions should call immediately for peace and restraint, as has already been the case in many countries."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the Sudanese ambassador in Berlin had been summoned on Friday and "unequivocally reminded of his government's duty to protect diplomatic missions".