Excerpt
JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): The bloodshed in Pakistan today marked a new spike in anti-American violence.
Gunfire and arson raged in city after city. And the death toll of at least 19 was the worst single-day count since an anti-Islamic video surfaced.
The Pakistani government had declared this a national holiday, Love for the Prophet Day, and encouraged peaceful protest. Some 15,000 people filled the streets in the southwest city of Karachi.
MOHAMMAD ARSHAD, Pakistan (through translator): We want to show the world that Muslims are one and united on this issue. We are all ready to die for the Prophet Mohammed. We have left our family to join the protest and will remain here until the protest is over.
JEFFREY BROWN: But things quickly turned violent, as crowds burned cars, theaters and a bank, and some opened fire on police. At least a dozen people were killed, including three officers.
There were more deaths in Peshawar, to the northwest, where rioters set fires, and police fired back with tear gas and live rounds. And in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, police battled hundreds of protesters to keep them away from the U.S. Embassy.
Protests were largely peaceful in Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, but no less anti-American, with crowds burning flags and effigies of President Obama.
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