BERLIN — Authorities in Germany are considering whether to ban the public screening of the anti-Islam film that has led to furious protests by Muslims worldwide, Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday. 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 their Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to desist from violence and express their views peacefully. Meanwhile, Russian prosecutors say they will seek to ban the film. The Prosecutor General's office said Monday it will ask the courts to outlaw the “Innocence of Muslims” film as “extremist and offending believers.” The office said it already has urged leading Internet providers to prevent its spread across the web. Police in Azerbaijan, meanwhile, detained some 30 Muslim activists while preventing a protest from breaking out near the US embassy over the film. More than 100 protesters chanting “God is Great” attempted to reach the embassy in the capital Baku and stage an unauthorized rally against the US-produced film. They were kept from advancing on the building by police wielding batons, with several protesters injured in the resulting clashes. — Agencies
