Tunisia braces for backlash over cartoons

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TUNIS, Tunisia, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Police in Tunisia prepared for possible unrest at the French Embassy in Tunis Friday after a French magazine published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Barbed wire bordered the embassy in advance of Friday prayers, Voice of America reported.

France already announced it would close its embassies and schools in 20 countries, including Tunisia, before the prayers.

In Paris, a French Muslim group said it will sue the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo over the publication of cartoons lampooning Muhammad, Radio France Internationale reported.

Last week, protests against the "Innocence of Muslims" video, made by a private filmmaker in the United States, rocked the Arab world, leading to scores of injuries and dozens of deaths.

Four people died in demonstrations outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis after a trailer of the film denigrating Muhammad was posted on YouTube.

The film earlier led to an attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The film depicts the prophet as a power- and sex-hungry bisexual pedophile of indeterminate parentage.

Tunisia's ruling Islamist Ennahda Party has called for calm, criticizing both the movie and the protesters. Party leader Rachid Ghannouchi said protesters have the right to express their views, but must do so peacefully.

In Paris, the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, the largest group in the umbrella National Muslim Council, said it would take legal action against the weekly, accusing it of trying to incite racial hatred, RFI said.

Police, acting on orders from the government, banned demonstrations against the cartoons and the "Innocence of Muslims" scheduled for Saturday.