DUSHANBE, September 18, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- On Tuesday September 18, the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) released a statement over the film insulting the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The statement, in particular, notes that personality of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the highest value for Muslims and respect for beliefs is protected by universally acknowledged principles and norms of international law.

A series of these insulting actions have been conducted by circles that are unhappy with increasing authority of Islam in the world, the statement said.

The IRP board stresses that spread of such materials insulting the Prophet Muhammad contradicts universal values and in this connection, the IRP calls on appropriate states, international community to counter such actions and bring persons involved in such provocations to justice.

Founded in October 1990, the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan was registered on December 4, 1991.  It was banned by the Supreme Court in June 1993 and legalized in August 1999.  Its official newspaper is Najot (Salvation).  According to some sources, IRP now has some 25,000-30,000 members.  It won two seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections.  The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan is the only Islamic party registered in CIS Central Asia.

Innocence of Muslims , previously called Innocence of Ben Laden (working title Desert Warrior), is an anti-Islam film, excerpts of which were posted on YouTube. 

Film trailers or excerpts of about 14 minutes in length were uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, with the titles The Real Life of Muhammad, and Muhammad Movie Trailer.  Trailers dubbed in the Arabic language were uploaded in early September 2012 and spread by Egyptian-American blogger and Coptic Christian Morris Sadek.  On September 8, 2012, an excerpt of the YouTube video was broadcast on Al-Nas TV, an Egyptian Islamist television station, previously suspended for “promoting religious or sectarian hatred.”  Violent protests against the film broke out on September 11 in Egypt and Libya.  The protests spread to Yemen and other Arab and Muslim nations over the following days and included attacks on U.S. consulates and embassies.

According to international media sources, at least seven people were killed as local police struggled to repel assaults after weekly Muslim prayers in Tunisia and Sudan, while there was also violence in Egypt and Yemen and across the Muslim world, driven by emotions ranging from piety to anger at Western power to frustrations with local leaders and poverty.

An attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on September 11.  Protesters in Tunis attacked the US embassy, with a large fire reported and shots heard; two were killed.  Sudanese protesters attacked US, German and UK embassies in Khartoum and clashed with police on September 14. Three were reportedly killed.

Palestinians staged demonstrations in both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. About 10,000 people held a noisy protest in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. They burned U.S. flags, chanted anti-U.S. slogans and demanded punishment for the offenders, but were stopped from marching to the U.S. embassy. There was no violence.  Thousands of Iranians held protests nationwide, and there were also rallies in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Jordan, Kenya, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan and Iraq.