Protests spread against US over anti-Islamic film - live updates - The Guardian

Welcome to Middle East Live. Protests against a US-made anti-Islamic film are expected to increase in size and reach following Friday prayers today across North Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Here's a roundup of the latest developments.

Libya

• Libyan authorities say they have made arrests in the investigation into the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that left US ambassador Chris Stevens and three state department staff dead. "Some people have been arrested and are under investigation," deputy interior minister Wanis Sharif told Reuters on Thursday. "We are gathering evidence." He did not give further details.

• Reports that the attack on the consulate building was the work of an isolated group seemed to be at odds with the extent of the damage to the building, Chris Stephen reports from the Benghazi.

The Islamist Ansar al-Sharia brigade is blamed by many here for the violence, particularly with the appearance of a video that appears to show two US embassy vehicles plundered from the burning compound being driven into the brigade's Benghazi barracks. Brigade leaders have issued a denial of responsibility but were unwilling to talk to journalists on Thursday.

Egypt

• The Freedom and Justice party, the political wing of President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, has backed calls for protests against the anti-Islamic film. In a statement it affirmed that "peaceful expression of protest against the latest anti-Islam film is both the right and the duty of all Egyptian people, Muslims and Christians alike, to voice their anger for the honour of Prophet Mohammed, and to counter all attempts to ignite sedition between the two elements of this great nation." But it urged demonstrators outside the US embassy to show restraint and tolerance.

• Clashes between protesters and security forces continued near the US embassy in Cairo's after a third night of demonstrations, Ahram online reports. Earlier Morsi, moved to limit damage to sensitive relations with the US by pledging to protect foreign embassies on the eve of the new protest.

Yemen

• Four people died and dozens of protesters and guards were injured in clashes outside the US embassy in Yemen. Hundreds of protesters stormed the embassy compound where they smashed windows, burned cars and the US flag. 

US response

• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton called for for political and religious leaders to stand up against violence over what she called a "disgusting, reprehensible and cynical" anti-Muslim film as protests spread across the Middle East and beyond. Speaking with senior Moroccan officials in Washington, she said: "We absolutely reject its content and message."

• The maker of the video which triggered violence was believed to be hunkered in his California home amid a media siege and revelations about his criminal record. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, stayed hidden from view on Thursday as television crews camped outside his door in a leafy suburb of Cerros, just outside Los Angeles.

• Google, the owner of YouTube, blocked access to Egypt and Libya, in an attempt to defuse the fury over the "Innocence of Muslim" film, but it did not remove the video from its site, the New York Times reports. Google said it decided to block the video in response to violence that killed four American diplomatic personnel in Libya.

Syria

• Lakhdar Brahimi, the international envoy to Syria, warned that the political crisis is getting worse as he arrived in Damascus for the first time in his new role. Speaking to reporters he said: "We came to Syria to consult with our Syrian brothers ... There is a crisis in Syria and I believe it is getting worse."