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Police Open Fire on Protesters in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan—Three people were killed and dozens injured Friday when protests by tens of thousands of Pakistanis infuriated by an anti-Islam film descended into deadly violence.

Police fired tear gas and live ammunition in an attempt to subdue rioters who hurled rocks and set fire to buildings in some cities on a holiday declared by Pakistan's government so people could rally against the video, which has sparked protests across the Muslim world.

Thousands of Muslims protested in at least half a dozen other countries, some burning American flags and effigies of President Barack Obama.

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A Pakistani policeman fires an automatic weapon in the direction of demonstrators during a protest in Islamabad on Friday.

In the Pakistani city of Peshawar, police fired on rioters who were torching a cinema. Mohammad Amir, a driver for a Pakistani television station, was killed when police bullets hit his vehicle at the scene, said Kashif Mahmood, a reporter for ARY TV who was also sitting in the car at the time. The TV channel showed footage of Mr. Amir at the hospital as doctors tried to save him.

A protester who was shot during a demonstration in the city also died, police officer Rohhullah Khan said.

In Karachi, armed protesters among a group of 15,000 fired on police, killing one and wounding another, said police officer Ahmad Hassan. The crowd also burned two cinemas and a bank, he said.

The controversial film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, called "Innocence of Muslims," has sparked unrest in many parts of the Muslim world over the past 10 days. The deaths of more than 30 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, have been linked to the violence. Much of the anger has been directed at the U.S. government even though the film was privately produced in the U.S. and American officials have criticized it for insulting Muslims.

The publication by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo of cartoons making fun of Muhammad has also angered protesters.

As well as in Pakistan there were protests Friday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, police fired tear gas to disperse nearly 30 women who were marching Friday under the banner of the radical Islamic women's group Dukhtaran-e-Millat chanting "Down with the U.S."

In Iraq, about 3,000 protesters condemned the film and caricatures of the prophet in a French satirical weekly. The protest in the southern city of Basra was organized by Iranian-backed Shiite groups.

In the Sri Lanka capital of Colombo, about 2,000 Muslims burned effigies of President Barack Obama and American flags at a protest after Friday prayers, while in Bangladesh, over 2,000 people marched through the streets of the capital, Dhaka, to protest the film.

In Malaysia, thousands of Muslims demonstrated noisily outside the U.S. Embassy, burning U.S. and Israeli flags. Police estimated that 2,800 to 3,000 people took part in the protest. They chanted, "Long live Islam'' and "Destroy America.'' Officers formed a cordon in front of the embassy, which was closed. There were no clashes and no arrests.

"Our message to the U.S. is very clear—stop it!'' said Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi, youth chief of the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party, which played a large role in organizing the protest. "You cannot allow Americans to insult our Prophet, to insult Islam." Mr. Nasruddin said that the Islamic party didn't condone the burning of the U. S. and Israeli flags.

U.S. diplomatic missions in neighboring Indonesia were also closed. Several hundred protesters demonstrated without violence in the capital Jakarta as well as in Surabaja. Officials had expressed concern over potential violence after a clash Monday in Jakarta between police and demonstrators ended with thrown rocks and Molotov cocktails.

In response to the protests at the film, France has closed its diplomatic missions in Indonesia, Malaysia and in several other countries as a precaution.

The riots in Pakistan come after nearly a week of violent rallies against the film in which three people have died. The government declared Friday to be a national holiday and encouraged people to protest peacefully.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment about the death of Mr. Amir.

The cinema where police opened fire was one of two in Peshawar that several hundred protesters ransacked and set ablaze. Police beat back demonstrators with batons and firing tear gas and bullets. At least 11 people were wounded in the clashes, including four who were shot, said police officer Imtiaz Khan. They included eight protesters and three policemen.

On Thursday, the government was forced to call in army troops to protect the capital, Islamabad, after more than 2,000 stone-throwing demonstrators tried to reach the U.S. Embassy inside a guarded enclave that houses foreign missions and government offices. Security was tight in Islamabad again Friday, as police set up scores of shipping containers to prevent protesters from reaching the diplomatic enclave.

The government also blocked cellphone service in 15 major cities, including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, to prevent militants from using phones to detonate bombs during the protests, said an Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media.

U.S. officials have struggled to explain to the Muslim world how they strongly disagree with the anti-Islam film but have no ability to block it because of the freedom of speech in the country.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf called on the international community Friday to pass laws to prevent people from insulting the Prophet Muhammad, saying "an attack on the holy Prophet is an attack on the core belief of 1.5 billion Muslims."

He added that if denying the Holocaust could be a crime, as it is in Germany, insulting Islam could also be made illegal.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also lashed out at the West over the film and the publication of caricatures of the prophet by a French satirical weekly.

"In return for [allowing] the ugliest insults to the divine messenger, they—the West—raise the slogan of respect for freedom of speech," said Mr. Ahmadinejad during a speech at a military parade in the capital, Tehran.

He said this explanation was "clearly a deception."

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, in a bid to tamp down public rage over the film, is spending $70,000 to air an ad on Pakistani television that features President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denouncing the video. Their comments, which are from previous public events in Washington, are in English but subtitled in Urdu, the main Pakistani language.

In Germany, which is home to an estimated 4 million Muslims, the Interior Ministry said it was postponing a poster campaign aimed at countering radical Islam among young people because of heightened tensions caused by the online video insulting Islam.