(VOVworld)- US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and 3 other American diplomat were killed Wednesday when Islamist gunmen attacked the U.S. consulate. The attack came during a demonstration against America for a film protestors said insulted the Prophet Mohammad. In Egypt, a protest against the film turned violent and thousands of protesters removed and destroyed a US flag flying at the US Embassy. The violence occurred on September 11, a date infamous since the September 11 attacks 11 years ago and it has sharpened the conflict between the West and the Muslim world.

The 13 minute film called “International Judge Mohamad Day” was scheduled to be broadcast on September 11 to mark the September 11 attack in the US. The film immediately sparked protests in many countries. In Egypt, 2,000 people protested outside the US embassy in Cairo. They climbed up the embassy’s walls, destroyed the US flag and replaced it with the Black Muslim flag. Ahmed Khalil, a senior leader of the Slafist Nour Party, and head of the protest said his Party had sent a letter to the US Embassy asking the US government to ban the film and make an official apology. The Egyptian government called on the public for restraint, but the powerful Muslim Brotherhood called for protests throughout the country. In Libya, the violence became more serious when thousands of angry people surrounded and attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi city killing the US Ambassador to Libya and 3 other diplomats. The US embassy in Cairo condemned those who deliberately try to wound the religious feelings of Muslim people. US President Barak Obama strongly condemned the attacks and has also denounced all religious disarrangement. The EU and NATO called on Libya to investigate the murders and increase security for diplomats in the country. Libyan Parliament Speaker Mohamed Al Megaryef conveyed an apology to the people in the US and all over the world.

Protests at the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt- Source: Reuters

This was not the first time an insult to the Prophet Mohamad provided a reason for Muslim people to retaliate. For them, any caricature of the Prophet Mohamad is deemed an insult. 2 years ago, the world witnessed Muslim anger after an American clergy in Florida threatened to burn Korans. Bloody protests occurred in Afghanistan killing several people.  

In recent decades, conflicts and terrorism have created a wall separating the US and the Muslim world. A war on terrorism was launched after the September 11 attack increasing anti US feelings in the Muslim world. Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen have been listed by the US as terrorism bases. 11 years after the September 11 attacks in the US, although Osama Bin Laden has been killed, the Al Qeada network has been weakened, and the values of democracy have been disseminated in the Muslim world thanks to the Arab Spring movement, the US is still the number one target of Muslim extremism. US military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq is described as a US attempt to undermine the Muslim world and as a result, Muslim people have become more and more anti US. Since he took office in January 2009, US President Barak Obama has repeatedly sought to make peace with the Muslim world. His efforts have been largely unsuccessful because of sharp ambivalence on the issue among the American public.

Anh Huyen