Cairo,some were paid to protest..[ 2930 ]

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Amid uneasy calm in Cairo, prime minister says some were paid to protest

From Ian Lee, Hamdi Alkhshali and Joe Sterling, CNN

September 16, 2012 -- Updated 0149 GMT (0949 HKT)

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Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's prime minister said some of the thousands involved in days of protests near the U.S. Embassy got paid to participate, state news reported Saturday, the same day riot police managed to force demonstrators from the area.

Prime Minister Hesham Kandil said "a number" of those involved in the tense, sometimes violent protests, which began Tuesday, later confessed to getting paid to participate, according to the state-run Middle East News Agency. He noted, too, that some of the demonstrators were acting on their own and weren't paid to vent their anger against the United States over an inflammatory anti-Islam film that was privately produced in that country.

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Kandil did not say whether the government knew or suspected who paid the demonstrators, according to the MENA report.

Also Saturday, some semblance of normalcy finally returned to Cairo after riot police successfully pushed away demonstrators from the U.S. diplomatic as well as nearby Tahrir Square.

This action gave crews the opportunity, finally, to clear debris-strewn streets, local businesses to assess damages and traffic to begin crawling back to normal.

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Saturday's protests in the Egyptian capital were mostly peaceful, though scores of people were nonetheless arrested and injured in clashes. One death was reported, but government officials later said it was unrelated to the demonstrations.

Muslims have been livid over a 14-minute trailer for "Innocence of Muslims," an obscure film that mocks the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester and ruthless killer.

Two months after the film's trailer was posted online on YouTube, and days after it got attention in Egyptian media, Cairo residents first expressed their ire Tuesday, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, with protests targeting the American embassy.

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Outpourings soon spread like wildfire across the Muslim world. As a result, Western diplomats found themselves and their missions under siege.

The region has been on edge after those initial volatile Cairo protests and the killings of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other American officials at the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

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Relations between the United States and Egypt have cooled since the overthrow last year of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and the election of President Mohamed Morsy, the country's first democratically elected leader. Before he became president, he was a leader in the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, the popular Islamist movement.

When protests in Cairo began Tuesday, police and Egyptian troops formed defensive lines around the embassy to stop demonstrators from advancing. But they did not prevent protesters from scaling the embassy fence and placing a black flag atop a ladder in the American compound.

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Police arrested a handful of protesters at the time, but the failure of Egyptian authorities to take action sooner has been widely questioned, as has initial response from Morsy.

Morsy initially focused his criticism on the anti-Muslim film as an unacceptable slap at Islam. But after speaking with U.S. President Barack Obama, Morsy on Thursday directly criticized the violence

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"Those who are attacking the embassies do not represent any of us," he said from Brussels, Belgium, where he was visiting the headquarters of the European Union.

Discussing Egypt's relationship with the United States, the prime minister, Kandil, said Egyptian officials believe that Washington is "sincere" in wanting to foster "good relations," adding that Egypt's chief goal is to create "balanced relations," the MENA report said.

"Relations between countries of the so-called Arab Spring and the West have not yet taken complete shape," Kandil said, stressing this is particularly true of Egypt.

As this relationship evolves, the prime minister said his country is committed to protecting U.S. diplomats and their missions.

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Until late Saturday, demonstrations near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo have been persistent and, at times, violent with scores injured and scores more arrested.

Still, the thousands of protesters represent a fraction of the Egyptian capital's total population of roughly 11 million people.

In Egypt's northern Sinai, a large number of security forces backed by tanks regained control of a base housing an international peacekeeping force that was breached Friday by Islamist militants.

Carrying automatic weapons, the militants burned trucks and a watch tower on the base, Egyptian media said.

The 1,500-troop Multinational Force & Observers mission has supervised the security of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty since 1979.

The force said in a statement that a demonstration on Saturday outside its North Camp in el Gorah "turned violent."

"Individuals throwing Molotov cocktails and explosive devices breached the camp's perimeter. The breach was quickly contained by the professional actions of MFO personnel," the force said in a statement.

It reported eight minor injuries to force members and damage to vehicles and property. There had been a news report of an injury to an Islamist Bedouin, but the MFO said intruders left "with no known injury." The situation stabilized after Egyptian authorities "helped secure the camp's perimeter."

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Militants have threatened the observers before, saying they would attack if they didn't leave.

"The MFO views these events with the gravest concern and is coordinating with Egyptian authorities regarding strengthened measures to secure MFO premises and personnel, and to ensure that the MFO mission may continue securely and effectively," it said.

Egyptian security has been fighting militants in Sinai since August. That's when 16 border guards were killed in an attack by Islamist militants.

Ian Lee contributed from Cairo and Hamdi Alkhshali, Joe Sterling from Atlanta. CNN's Amir Ahmed contributed to this rep

Libya, deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate...[ 2928 ]

Libyans See al Qaeda Hand in Embassy Attack

• MIDDLE EAST NEWS
• September 15, 2012, 3:06 p.m. ET

By MARGARET COKER in Benghazi and SIOBHAN GORMAN and ADAM ENTOUS in Washington

BENGHAZI—The head of Libya's new national congress has blamed al Qaeda-linked militants for planning Tuesday's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, raising further questions about the motive behind the mayhem that killed four Americans.
U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that they are investigating indications that a local group of Libyan militants, Ansar al Sharia, held a series of conversations Tuesday with al Qaeda extremists about the assault that day on the consulate, in the first sign of possible coordination in the attack between local fighters and the global terrorist movement.

Photos: Anti-U.S. Protests Saturday

View Slideshow

Bilawal Arbab/European Pressphoto Agency

Protesters burned a flag in Peshawar, Pakistan, Saturday.

Map: Middle East Unrest

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Timeline: Past Attacks

Past attacks on U.S. embassies and consulates around the world.

View Interactive

• More photos and interactive graphics

The statement from Mohamed Al-Magarief, broadcast Friday during an interview the Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera, is the first time that a Libyan official has implicated the global terrorist organization in the chaotic events that raised tensions throughout the Middle East.
Mr. Magarief didn't say how far in advance the attack had been planned. He said, however, that he believes the militants went to the consulate with violence in mind.
"I think this was al Qaeda," Mr. Magarief said in the interview. "If you take into account the weapons used, like RPGs and other heavy weapons, it proves that it was preplanned. It's a dirty act of revenge that has nothing to do with religion."

Read More

• Egypt Clears Demonstrators
• Afghan Attacks Kill Four
• U.S. Authorities Interview Filmmaker
• Protests' Spread Challenges U.S. Diplomacy in Region
• Updates: Mideast Turmoil

Libyan security officials in Benghazi who are heading the investigation into the bloody incident have cautioned against rushing to judgment about the nature or cause of the deaths. They have said they suspect members of Ansar al Sharia, among others, of participating in the armed mob that marched on the diplomatic compound. However, there is no evidence that the local militant organization ordered a specific attack against U.S. diplomatic personnel, some of the Libyan security officials have said.
Local Libyan officials have also been hesitant to blame the violence on militant Islamic jihadis, and some have even suggested that a cell of Gadhafi loyalists may have been responsible for instigating the bloodshed.
U.S. officials said they saw no intelligence before the attack to suggest militants—either the local group or al Qaeda—wanted to hit the consulate. Officials said they also didn't believe the militants targeted the ambassador.
Despite indications of the communications between the local group and the al Qaeda affiliate, officials said it wasn't known whether the leadership of either group directed the militants executing the attack, or whether members may have acted on their own accord, officials said.
The crowd of several hundred Libyans overran the consulate Tuesday night, shooting a hail of bullets and grenades and overwhelming the lightly guarded compound before allegedly setting fire to the main buildings where American staff lived and worked. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and a second diplomat, Sean Smith, died in the fire.
The majority of the Americans managed to evacuate from the compound during this initial attack and reach a nearby safe house. A couple of hours later, militants launched a second wave of attacks at that site, killing the other two Americans, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, U.S. and Libyan officials said.
However, in the chaos of the initial fight, Ambassador Stevens was left behind in the consulate after the evacuation. He apparently had been trapped inside the main house in the center of the spacious compound and died of smoke inhalation, according to doctors who received his body at Benghazi's central hospital.
A group of suspected Libyan looters who came to the consulate after the fighting had ended early Wednesday morning found his body and delivered it to the hospital, according to Libyan security officials, who later brought his body to a U.S. rescue team that helped airlift the Americans out of Benghazi Wednesday morning.
The bodies of all four Americans were repatriated on Friday.
Several current and former U.S. officials said extremist leaders linked with al Qaeda were communicating with members of Ansar al Sharia, the Libyan militia, after seeing violent anti-U.S. protests breaking out in Cairo. These officials identified the leaders as members of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an al Qaeda branch in North Africa known as AQIM.
U.S. officials cautioned Friday that the investigation was still under way, and their understanding of the attack remained incomplete. Officials stressed they hadn't yet drawn firm conclusions about who is responsible.
But the officials have zeroed in on involvement of AQIM, which may have intended to encourage the attack. "The way AQIM has been discussing this strongly suggests they were involved in the plotting," said a former U.S. official.
Libya has organized a joint task force along with the Americans and is conducting a manhunt for the suspected organizers of the attack. So far, four people have been arrested. As of Saturday, their interrogation was still under way, according to Fawzi Waniss, the head of the Supreme Security Council branch in Benghazi.
Mr. Magarief flew to Benghazi on Friday and laid a wreath on the consulate grounds in remembrance of the four dead Americans. He told al-Jazeera that he considered the attack the work of "experienced masterminds" who were seeking revenge against the United States.
Until now, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has been seen largely as a regional threat. "If al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is implicated in the Benghazi attack, it would suggest the group is a greater threat to the United States than was previously believed," said Seth Jones, a counterterrorism specialist at Rand Corp. who recently wrote a book on al Qaeda.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions against the group but hasn't directly ordered airstrikes against its leaders, as it has against al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen, East Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan and the central al Qaeda operation in Pakistan. The group's growing foothold in Mali has fueled debate within the Obama administration over whether the U.S. should continue to rely on local partners to combat the group or to take direct action.
In the days following the attack, there has been considerable debate over whether it was premeditated. The latest information suggested Friday that while the attack was loosely organized, it was done as a last-minute response to events unfolding in Cairo.
"The current available information indicates that the attacks were spontaneously inspired by the protests in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the consulate," a U.S. official said.
Officials believe that quick response may have been possible because there are active terrorist cells in Benghazi that have carried out five attacks since April—three against diplomatic targets, including the U.S. Consulate. One higher-profile assault in June targeted the convoy carrying the British ambassador to Libya and used sophisticated techniques that suggested it was well-planned.

The anti-Islamic film that sparked protests ..[ 2927 ]

Feds question man linked to anti-Islamic film that sparked protests

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS September 15, 2012 6:24PM

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, who is linked to the anti-Muslim movie that has inflamed the Middle East, is escorted by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies from his home early Saturday in Cerritos, Calif. He was questioned but not arrested. | CBS2-KCAL 

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LOS ANGELES — A Southern California filmmaker linked to an anti-Islamic movie inflaming protests across the Middle East was interviewed and released Saturday by federal probation officers at a Los Angeles sheriff’s station, authorities said.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was interviewed for about half an hour at the station shortly after 12 a.m. in his hometown of Cerritos, Calif., said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

After that, deputies dropped Nakoula off at an undisclosed location.

“He is gone. We don’t know where he went,” Whitmore said. “He said he is not going back to his home.”

Federal officials are investigating whether Nakoula, who has been convicted of financial crimes, has violated the terms of his five-year probation. If so, a judge could send him back to prison.

Nakoula went voluntarily to the station, wearing a coat, hat, scarf and glasses that concealed his appearance. His home has been besieged by media for several days.

Whitmore said Nakoula was not handcuffed and the heavy apparel was his idea.

The probation department is reviewing the case of Nakoula, who pleaded no contest to bank fraud charges in 2010 and was banned from using computers or the Internet or using false identities as part of his sentence.

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Federal authorities have identified Nakoula, a self-described Coptic Christian, as the key figure behind “Innocence of Muslims,” a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that ignited mob violence against U.S. embassies across the Middle East.

Much of the film was shot inside the offices of Media for Christ, a nonprofit based in the Los Angeles-area city of Duarte. The charity raised more than $1 million last year “to glow Jesus’ light” to the world.

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The Riverside County man who was a script adviser to the film and who has a long history of anti-Islamic activism told the Press-Enterprise newspaper that he has received multiple death threats.

“I’m really tired,” Steven Klein said when he answered the door of his home in Hemet, Calif., Friday with a pistol in his hand and clad only in a pair of white shorts stained with what appeared to be ink spots.

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The newspaper said Klein, a Vietnam veteran, appeared agitated. While waving the gun, he told the newspaper he was standing up for his First Amendment rights in helping with the film and said he is prepared to die for those rights.

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A federal law enforcement official said authorities had connected Nakoula to a man using the pseudonym of Sam Bacile who claimed earlier to be writer and director of the film.

Violent protests set off by the film in Libya played a role in mob attacks in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American officials. Demonstrations against American missions have since spread to several other countries.

Armstrong Burial at Sea...[ 2926 ]

 Armstrong Burial at Sea,in the Atlantic Ocean.

• NASA Home
•     >    Multimedia
•     >    NASA Images

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Paul Nagy, USS Philippine Sea, and Carol Armstrong, wife of Neil Armstrong, commit the cremated remains of Neil Armstrong to sea during a burial at sea service held onboard the USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died Saturday, Aug. 25. He was 82.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Benghazi attack..[ 2925 ]

U.S. vows to hunt down perpetrators of Benghazi attack

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 13, 2012 -- Updated 0116 GMT (0916 HKT)

A demonstrator in Benghazi, Libya, on Wednesday, September 12, holds a message during a rally to condemn the killers of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three others during the attack on the U.S. Consulate. Photos: Protesters storm U.S. Embassy buildings

Washington (CNN) -- The United States on Wednesday vowed to avenge the killings of its ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, moving warships toward the Libyan coast and preparing to track the suspected perpetrators with surveillance drones, officials said.
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The slain ambassador, Chris Stevens, helped save Libya's eastern city of Benghazi during last year's revolution. He died there Tuesday night, along with another diplomat and two State Department security officers, when a mob stormed the U.S. Consulate and set it ablaze.

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The Benghazi consulate was one of several American diplomatic missions that faced protests after the online release of a film that ridiculed Muslims and depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a child molester, womanizer and ruthless killer.

But U.S. sources said Wednesday the four-hour assault in Benghazi had been planned, with the attackers using the protest as a diversion.

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• U.S. vows to hunt down perpetrators of Benghazi attack - CNN.com