I was just reading about yesterday’s riots in the paper this morning, first I’d heard of them. It all happened about 6-8 km from here, but could have been at the other end of the planet in terms of any disruption here. At one point there was a rather loud movement of troups (with a couple of tanks rolling down the street), but at the time I just thought it was an exercise or such. Here’s the report from the local English language paper The Daily Star:

Violence plagues protest against cartoons of Prophet Mohammad: Riots leave Danish Consulate building in flames, churches vandalized

By Rym Ghazal, Daily Star staff, Monday, February 06, 2006

BEIRUT: What was meant to be a peaceful protest by thousands of Muslims in Beirut Sunday against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad turned into a vicious riot, which left at least one person dead and 30 wounded. The Danish Consulate was torched, churches were vandalized and a number of properties and vehicles were damaged.

Muslims carrying green and black Islamic flags and wearing headbands bearing the slogan “Prophet’s soldiers” joined in the global Muslim march against the recent reprinting by European newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad by swarming the streets in front and around the 10-storey building housing the Danish Consulate in Beirut.

Click the link above (The Daily Star) for the rest of the story …