Germany embassy staff to leave Khartoum
2012-09-16 17:07
Berlin - Germany ordered some staff members to leave its embassy in Sudan and bolstered security at the mission in Khartoum after it was stormed on Friday by protesters infuriated by an anti-Islamic film made in the United States.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said the staffing levels at the embassy in Khartoum had been reduced, although she did not provide any numbers. She said additional security personnel was sent to protect the building.
The situation was tense at the embassy in Khartoum but calm at the moment, she said.
About 5 000 people protesting against the film that insults the Prophet Muhammad outside the embassy stormed the building on Friday and raised an Islamic flag above the mission.
They smashed windows, cameras and furniture in the German complex and then started a fire, witnesses said.
It was unclear why the German embassy was singled out since the film was made in the United States and Muslim outrage has led to crowds assaulting US diplomatic missions in a number of Muslim countries.
Sudan also criticised Germany for allowing a protest last month by right-wing activists carrying a caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and for Chancellor Angela Merkel giving an award in 2010 to a Danish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet in 2005, triggering demonstrations across the Islamic world.
