Fri, September 14, 2012
JAKARTA, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has denounced an anti-Islam movie that triggered violent outbursts in Libya, Egypt and Yemen, local media reported on Friday.
Teuku Faizasyah, President Yudhoyono's spokesman for international affairs, said on Thursday that the president regretted the fact that the movie "Innocence of Muslims" had incited protests leading to the loss of life, including the death of the U.S. ambassador in Libya.
"This is a very regrettable incident for two reasons," the spokesman said as quoted by the Jakarta Globe. "First is the element of blasphemy, and second is the repercussion that it has had. We truly regret that lives were lost."
Faizasyah said the president was closely monitoring events since the storming of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday in response to the release of an Arabic dub of the movie by Israeli director Sam Bacile.
In Libya, the attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at the consulate compound, killing the visiting ambassador, Christopher Stephens, as well as two Marines and another U.S. official.
The low-budget movie portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent. It pokes fun at the Prophet Muhammad and touches on themes of pedophilia and homosexuality, while showing him sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as "the first Muslim animal."
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, however, gave assurances that all foreign embassies and missions in Indonesia were regarded as key sites and would receive the full protection of the authorities.
He added his office was constantly coordinating with the U.S. Embassy on its security arrangements. "We believe the overall situation here remains secure and that this is a problem that doesn't directly involve Indonesia," Marty said.
