Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has called for new protests in Lebanon over a movie thought to be offensive to Muslims, the BBC reported.
The head of the Lebanon-based Shia Muslim militant group said Muslims "would not be silent in the face of this insult,” as quoted by the British broadcaster.
U.S. diplomatic missions in Egypt, Yemen and Libya were attacked last week over the film, “Innocence of Muslims,” which mocks Islam and Prophet Muhammad. Hundreds of people were injured in clashes with police, and about 20 were killed, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. Protests at many U.S. embassies have been continuing.
Clashes between protesters and police in Pakistan reportedly left one person killed on Sunday.
Nasrallah called for several demonstrations starting Monday as he delivered a speech broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV station.
"Those who should be held accountable, punished, prosecuted and boycotted are those directly responsible for this film and those who stand behind them and those who support and protect them, primarily the United States of America," the BBC quoted Nasrallah as saying.
Al Jazeera reported that Nasrallah called for protests in southern Beirut on Monday, in the southern city of Tyre on Wednesday, in the city of Baalbek in the east on Friday, in Bint Jbeil in the country's south on Saturday, and in Hermel in the eastern Bekaa valley region on Sunday. All localities are majority Shia areas.
Nasrallah also urged people in other Muslim countries to demonstrate against the movie he described as "the worst attack ever on Islam.”
