Anti-Islam video: $100,000 bounty on film-maker

Scores of people were injured yesterday in clashes in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, between police and hundreds of demonstrators, as protests continued against a film produced in the United States that denigrates the Prophet.

And in Pakistan, where more than 20 people died Friday in clashes throughout the country, a cabinet minister offered a US$100,000 reward for the death of the film-maker. The railways minister, Ghulam Ahmad Balor, said he would pay the reward out of his own pocket. He urged the Taliban and al-Qa'ida to perform the "sacred duty" of helping to locate and kill the film-maker.

Meanwhile, the Islamist militia blamed for last week's attack on the US consulate in Benghazi has been swept from its bases in the city by a popular uprising backed by police and government troops. Four people died, and three dozen injured.

Chanting "Libya, Libya", "No more al-Qa'ida!" and "The blood we shed for freedom shall not go in vain!" hundreds of men waving swords stormed Ansar al-Sharia's headquarters in the city. Demonstrators pulled down militia flags and set a vehicle on fire inside what was once the base of the former leader Muammar Gaddafi's security forces.

"After what happened at the American consulate, the people of Benghazi have had enough of the extremists," Hassan Ahmed, a demonstrator, said. Adusalam al-Tarhouni, a government worker, who arrived with the first wave of protesters, said several trucks with the group's fighters had initially confronted the protesters and opened fire.

As protesters left Ansar al-Sharia's headquarters, the crowd swelled, reaching thousands as it headed towards the Islamists' military base. Demonstrators said militiamen opened fire as they arrived and several people were wounded.