Makati police heighten security near embassies

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City Police on Friday stepped up police visibility around foreign embassies in the wake of recent riots that hit US embassies in Libya, Egypt and Yemen.

Supt. Jaime Santos, Makati City Police acting chief, said he has ordered the deployment of the Special Reaction Unit of the city police’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to provide police visibility in the city’s diplomatic community.

Makati is host to 44 embassies and 36 consulates of various countries, including those of Egypt and Libya. Some of the embassies located in the city belong to countries that are known allies of the United States in its global war against terrorists.

Santos said the SRU personnel will be augmented in its patrols by police personnel from the various city substations as well as personnel from the police traffic department.

On Tuesday, a mob of angry Libyans stormed the US consulate in Benghazi killing American Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The US embassy in Cairo was also attacked by protesters on Tuesday night.

Hundreds of protesters on Thursday also stormed the US embassy compound in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa and burned the American flag. It was the latest in a series of attacks on American diplomatic missions in the Middle East and North Africa.

The riots were sparked by the circulation over the Internet of “Innocence of Muslims.” The recently produced American independent movie was largely perceived to be anti-Muslim with its trailer depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a madman.

The recent wave of violence has raised worries that further protests could break out around the Muslim world as anger spreads over the movie.