KARACHI, Pakistan -- Hundreds of Pakistanis protesting an anti-Islam film broke through a barricade near the U.S. Consulate in the southern city of Karachi on Sunday, sparking clashes with police in which one demonstrator was killed and more than a dozen injured.
In a move that could escalate tensions around the Arab world, the leader of the Hizballah militant group called for protests against the movie, saying protesters should not only express anger at U.S. embassies but urge leaders to act.
The film, which denigrates Islam's Prophet Muhammad, has sparked violent protests in many Muslim countries in recent days. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed when protesters stormed the consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The U.S. has responded by deploying additional military forces to increase security in certain hot spots.
In a televised speech, Hizballah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said the U.S. must be held accountable for the film, which was produced in the U.S. The U.S. government has condemned the film.
"The ones who should be held accountable and boycotted are those who support and protect the producers, namely the U.S. administration," Nasrallah said. He called for protests today, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The deadly assault in Libya was a spontaneous reaction to the film, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday, even as Libya's president insisted the attackers spent months preparing and carefully choosing their date -- the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Unnerved by the rapidly escalating events Tuesday in Benghazi, the Obama administration launched an investigation last week into whether terrorist groups had exploited outrage over an anti-Muslim video to trigger an attack long in the works.
But UN Ambassador Susan Rice said evidence gathered so far shows no indication of a premeditated or coordinated strike. She said the attack in Benghazi, powered by mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, appeared to be a copycat of demonstrations that had erupted hours earlier outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, spurred by the film attributed to a California man.
Rice's depiction of the chain of events contrasted with one offered by Libya's interim president, Mohammed el-Megarif, who said Sunday there was no doubt the perpetrators predetermined the date of the attack.
"It was planned, definitely. It was planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago," el-Megarif said. "And they were planning this criminal act since their arrival."
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Brighton Republican who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said it was premature to rule out a premeditated attack. A former FBI agent, Rogers said there were too many coincidences to conclude the Benghazi attack hadn't been planned in advance.
"There's other information, classified information we have, that just makes you stop for a minute and pause," Rogers said, without elaborating.
Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "Most people don't bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons to a demonstration."
What started with protesters scaling the embassy wall in Cairo on Tuesday over the amateurish video deriding Islam's holiest figure has mushroomed into a maelstrom of disquiet throughout the Muslim world.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he expects more turmoil in the coming days, but the violence anticipated by Washington appears to be leveling off.
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