Film protest: Clashes in Dhaka

SCORES of people were injured yesterday in clashes in Bangladesh’s capital between police and hundreds of demonstrators, as protests continued in the Muslim world against a film produced in the US that denigrates Islam’s Prophet, Mohammed.

In Pakistan, where more than 20 people died on Friday in clashes with police in cities throughout the country, a cabinet minister offered a £61,600 reward for the death of the filmmaker.

Railways minister Ghulam Ahmad Balor said he would pay the reward out of his own pocket.

The film has sparked violent protests throughout the Muslim world that resulted in the deaths of dozens, including the US ambassador to Libya.

Yesterday in Bangladesh, police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse the stone-throwing protesters, who were from about a dozen Islamic groups.

The protesters burned several vehicles in Dhaka, including a police van, witnesses said.

Dozens of protesters were arrested at the demonstration and inside the nearby National Press Club, where participants took refuge, a Dhaka Metropolitan Police official said.

In Pakistan, protests continued yesterday, with more than 1,500 people rallying in Pakistan’s capital. The crowd was peaceful but angry over the release of the video called Innocence of Muslims, which portrays the Prophet Mohammed as a fraud, a womaniser and a child molester.