Makati police tighten security around foreign embassies

MANILA, Philippines - Police intensified visibility operations around foreign embassies in Makati City yesterday in the wake of recent riots that hit embassies of the United States in Libya, Egypt and Yemen.

Makati City Police acting chief Superintendent Jaime Santos 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 US in its global war against terror led by al-Qaeda.

Santos said the SRU personnel would be augmented in its patrols by police personnel from the various city sub-stations 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 on Tuesday.

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 the movie “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 in an overtly ridiculing way.