Germany mulls ban on screening anti-Islam film

BERLIN — Authorities in Germany are considering whether to ban the public screening of a film about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that has led to furious protests worldwide, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday.

Last week, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed when protesters attacked a U.S. compound in Benghazi, while in Sudan an angry mob stormed the German Embassy in Khartoum during a demonstration against the film.

Merkel said authorities fear a public screening in Germany could result in violence and she saw "good reasons" for issuing a ban. "It's not about banning the film itself but about whether the public screening would endanger public safety," she told reporters in Berlin.

She urged Muslims angry about the film's depiction of the Prophet (pbuh) to desist from violence and express their views peacefully.

Germany on the weekend forbade American Pastor Terry Jones, who sparked Arab world outrage when he burned Qur'ans on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, from entering the country for a screening.

Interior Ministry spokesman Hendrik Loerges told The Associated Press that the ban also applies to the filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.

The fringe far-right political party Pro Germany that invited Jones said it plans to show the film in Berlin in the coming months, and it will try to fly in someone else associated with the movie. — AP