A magazine in France on Wednesday published a series of vulgar cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which inflamed the global tensions that exist due to a movie that insults Islam. The publication of the caricatures prompted the French government to increase security at all of its embassies worldwide.
The magazine Charlie Hebdo, a provocative weekly publication followed a number of violent protests all of last week that stretched from Africa to Asia against the film Innocence of Muslims produced in the U.S. and has turned France and its diplomatic missions into a possible target of rage by Muslims. Until now, the target of most of the rage has been governmental missions of the U.S.
Violence that has been linked to the movie, which portrays Muhammad a womanizer, child molester and fraud has caused the deaths of 30 people across seven countries, including the U.S. ambassador in Libya.
Hundreds of lawyers on Wednesday protested the movie and forced their way into a section of the capital of Pakistan where the U.S. embassy is located along with other foreign diplomatic missions.
In one Indonesia city, the U.S. closed temporarily its consulate because of demonstrations. In the capital of Sri Lanka, people protested by burning effigies of President Obama.
On Friday, a number of schools and embassies were closed by France. The move was made out of precaution and the government ordered its embassy and school in Tunisia to be immediately closed.
On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry of France also issued a new travel warning that urged all of its citizens living in the Muslim world to be vigilant and avoid public demonstrations and buildings that were sensitive like religious sites or places that represented the West.
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