UNREST \\ A low-budget, crudely-produced film called Innocence Of Muslims, which allegedly portrays Prophet Mohammed as a “fraud”, a “womaniser” and a “child molester” sparked off controversies across the Middle East leading to violence and disruption. The violence began when Islamist protesters climbed the US Embassy walls in the Egyptian capital of Cairo and tore down the American flag from a courtyard pole. Chris Stevens, the US Ambassador to Libya, was killed, along with three other Americans, as violent protesters stormed the consulate in Benghazi. The intensity of the anti-American fervour initially caught US leaders by surprise, but in the past days, the Barack Obama administration has called for calm. It urged foreign governments to protect American interests in their countries. The film, has sparked violent protests in many Muslim countries and the US has responded by deploying additional military forces to increase security in some hotspots. In a televised speech, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said America must be held accountable for the film, which was produced in the United States. The US government has condemned the film. Nasrallah called for protests in which the Muslims expressed their “anger”. In Pakistan, police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters in Karachi. The protesters threw stones and bricks, prompting the police to beat back the crowd with batons. One protester was killed during the clash, said Ali Ahmar, spokesman for the Shiite Muslim group that organised the rally. Thousands more held peaceful demonstrations against the film in other parts of the country, including the eastern city of Lahore and the north-west city of Dera Ismail Khan. The demonstration in Lahore was organised by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, believed to be a front for a powerful militant group blamed for attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 that killed more than 160 people. It has been unclear how much of the violence was spontaneously triggered by the film and how much of it was spurred on by anti-American militants using it as a tool to grow and enrage the crowds. Libya’s interim president Mohammed el-Megarif said the attackers who killed Stevens appeared to have spent months preparing and carefully choosing their date—the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. But US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice said evidence gathered so far indicated it was a spontaneous reaction to the anti-Islam video. In the meanwhile, tension escalated in Libya as the civil war continued unabated, also leading to anti-American sentiments in most parts of the country.