Last Updated 9:18 a.m. ET
(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON — Demonstrations across the Muslim world have broken out in protest of a film made in the United States that the faithful say is blasphemous against the Prophet Muhammad.
Angry demonstrations over the anti-Islam video already have occurred in Egypt and Yemen, and officials theorize that well-armed Libyan extremists hijacked a similar protest in Benghazi, where several Libyan security guards also were killed.
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More demonstrations were held outside U.S. and other Western nations' embassies following Friday's weekly prayers — traditionally a time of protest in the Middle East and North Africa.
The White House said it was prepared for more protests but stressed that any violence would be unjustified.
The Muslim Brotherhood had called for more demonstrations today in Cairo, as did authorities in Iran and the Gaza strip. Large protests were expected in Baghdad and Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, as well as Amman, Jordan. Israel was stepping up security in anticipation of demonstrations after Muslim prayers.
However, a statement on the Muslim Brotherhood's Twitter account said that it has called off the large protests today and will instead stage a "symbolic" demonstration against the movie in Tahrir Square.
Sudanese policemen try to disperse protesters demonstrating against an amateur film mocking Islam, outside the German embassy in Khartoum, Sept. 14, 2012.
(Credit: ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)Police in Cairo have nonetheless prepared, reports correspondent Holly Williams from Cairo. They've erected a 10-foot high concrete barrier, blocking the way to the U.S. Embassy.
But crowds of young men have clashed with Egyptian police near the embassy for more than 48 hours.
The Egyptian Government knows that these protests are damaging, and they've come at a time when they're trying to rebuild the country after the Arab Spring, and attract foreign investment. However, the government draws its support from conservative Muslims - President Morsi himself belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood - and many of them are still furious about the film made in America that sparked these protests.
And so, said Williams, authorities can't afford to crack down on them too hard.
On Friday Morsi released a statement saying it's up to Muslims - as part of their Islamic duty - to protect embassies and foreign diplomats who are guests in the country.
Still, protests broke out in several cities, fanned by clerics.
In Sudan, Sheikh Mohammed Jizouly urged people via state radio to protest outside the main mosque in Khartoum, move on to German Embassy to protest alleged anti-Muslim scrawling on mosques in Berlin and then move on to the U.S. embassy, just outside the capital, to protest the film.
"America has long been an enemy to Islam and to Sudan," Jizouly said.
Al Jazeerah reports that protesters got onto the roof of the German Embassy and tried to take down German and European Union flags, and have now confronted police outside the U.S. compound.
In Yemen, security forces fired tear gas and water cannons against a crowd of about 2,000 protesters who tried to march on the U.S. Embassy compound in Sana'a and then retreated. Live rounds were also fired into the air.
And in Tripoli, Lebanon, a KFC was set on fire.
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In Afghanistan, hundreds of Afghans - some shouting "Death to America" - held a protest in the eastern city of Jalalabad. One protester, a man named Zhirullah who spoke to The Associated Press on the phone from the site, said the crowd called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to cut relations with the United States.
In Jakarta, about 200 Indonesians showed their anger over the anti-Islam film Friday by chanting "death to Jews!" and "death to America!" in a largely peaceful protest outside the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy.
They waved black flags and held signs that read: "America has to be responsible for Islamophobia worldwide" as they marched in the capital of the world's most populous Muslim nation.
"We came here because we want the U.S. to punish whoever was involved with the film," protester Abdul Jabar Umam said. "They should know that we are willing to die to defend the honor of our Prophet."
About 20 protesters outside the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur shouted "Allahu akbar!" and handed reporters a letter addressed to the American ambassador in Malaysia that expressed their anger over the movie and called for greater respect for religions.
Indonesia's government has been working to block access to clips of the film online, and a prominent cleric has urged calm. But others are calling for Muslims worldwide to defend the dignity of the Prophet Muhammad.
Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a branch of the international network that advocates a worldwide Islamic state and the ones who organized the protest, on its website blamed the U.S. government for allowing the film to be produced and released, calling it "an act of barbarism that cannot go unpunished."
"Why do these people seek problems by disturbing our peace? They knew the risk they were facing by angering people," said Muhammad Al-Khaththath, leader of another hardliner group. "There's only one way to stop our anger: Give the death penalty to the filmmaker and the actors."
