Protesters Storm US Embassy in Yemen as Anger Over Anti-Islam Film Grows

Hundreds of protesters managed to breach the outer security perimeter around the US embassy in Sana, Yemen for a brief period of time today before being repelled by guards.

One of the building in the compound was set on fire, and the AFP reports that a protester was shot and killed by local police. Yemen's president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi apologized to President Obama for the embassy attack, and ordered a formal investigation.


Violent protests also reignited in Cairo, where the initial sparks of unrest over a mysterious anti-Islam movie were set ablaze.

An attack on the US consulate in Benghazi yesterday, which resulted in the death of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three staff members, was initially thought to be related, but is now believed to have been a preplanned assault that took advantage of the protests for cover.

Protests were also organized in Bangladesh, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, and Iran, where hundreds gathered outside the Swiss embassy in Tehran to chant "death to America."

In Afghanistan, YouTube has been blocked indefinitely in an effort to contain the spread of "Innocence of Muslims" — the controversial video that stirred the region.

The true identity of the film's producer remains mostly shrouded, but an attempt to track down the elusive self-proclaimed Israeli-American real estate developer Sam Bacile led the Associated Press to a Coptic Christian named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula who resides at Bacile's address in California.

The 55-year-old denied being Bacile, but claimed to know him. However, an AP investigation found Nakoula, who pleaded no contest to federal bank fraud charges in 2010, has gone by many aliases in the past.

The entire cast and crew of "Innocence of Muslims" has since denounced the film, including lead actor, and gay porn star, Tim Dax, who said he believed "Sam the producer" was Egyptian.

[photo, video via AP]