Protesters get angry outside US embassies

At least one police officer was carried to safety by fellow officers, bleeding from the head.

Protesters in the world's largest Muslim-majority country burned a picture of US President Barack Obama and also tried to ignite a fire truck parked outside the embassy as Molotov cocktails exploded against a fence surrounding the building.

Police used loudspeakers to call for calm and deployed water cannon and tear gas to break up the crowds of the protesters.

"We will destroy America like this flag" a protester screamed while burning a US flag. "We will chase away the American ambassador from the country!"

The demonstration started off peacefully as the group of several hundred protesters from the Islamic People's Forum and the Front of Islamic Defenders, many dressed in white, marched towards the mission.

Earlier in the day the US embassy issued an emergency message to US citizens, saying about 1,000 people were expected to gather in front of the site and that about 1,500 police were on hand.

But police estimated there there were only around 400 protesters.

Demonstrations were also held in the cities of Medan and Bandung.

In Afghanistan hundreds burned cars and threw rocks at the US Camp Phoenix military base as a demonstration turned violent in the capital Kabul.

More than 20 police officers were slightly injured after being hit by thrown rocks.

It was the fourth day of Afghan protests against the film.

Police officers shot into the air to hold back about 800 people and prevent them from pushing toward government buildings.

In neighbouring Pakistan, around 3,000 students and teachers rallied against the film in Chaman, south-west Baluchistan. The crowd burned a US flag and an effigy of President Obama.

The US-made film ridicules Islam and depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womaniser and a madman.

The low-budget video continues to provoke violent protests against US embassies around the world.

foreigneditor@peoples-press.com