According to reports from Reuters, the German Embassy in Sudan has been stormed by protesters. The protesters have reportedly started fires and replaced the German flag with an Islamic flag.
A widely-circulated image shows smoke rising from the embassy:
The protest in Sudan follows similar protests directed at US embassies and consulates around the world. These protests were prompted by an anti-Islamic film that appears to have been made in the US.
The question now is — why are the protesters targeting the German Embassy?
One clue came earlier in the day — the attack appears to have come after criticism of Germany from the Sudanese Foreign Ministry. From a Reuters report:
Sudan's Foreign Ministry also criticized Germany for allowing a protest last month by right-wing activists carrying a caricatures of the Prophet and for Chancellor Angela Merkel giving an award in 2010 to a Danish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet in 2005 triggering demonstrations across the Islamic world.
There may also be more practical concerns for the protesters.
Many observers on Twitter are speculating that the rioters may simply have chosen to attack the German and UK embassies out of convenience — they are closer than the US Embassy:
So protesters obviously couldn't reach the US embassy new high-security compound in Suba, so they took a shortcut to UK embassy downtown KRT
— Usamah Mohammed (@simsimt) September 14, 2012
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