Cindy Lee Garcia says script she saw for Innocence of Muslims did not mention prophet Muhammad

Cindy Lee Garcia, one of the American actors who appeared in the anti-Muslim flick clip that sparked furious worldwide protests last week, has failed in an attempt to have it removed from YouTube.

On a day that saw new demonstrations in Pakistan and tensions rise across the Arab and Muslim worlds ahead of Friday prayers, a Los Angeles judge rejected Garcia's request partly because the man behind the now infamous clip, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is in hiding, and was not served with a copy of the lawsuit.

The provocative trailer, Innocence of Muslims, triggered protests from Tunisia to Indonesia as well as a pre-planned assault in Benghazi which killed the US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other diplomats.

The White House said on Thursday it was "self-evident" that it was a "terrorist attack" that may have had an al-Qaida connection.

Garcia filed the lawsuit on Wednesday citing death threats against her and her inability to visit her grandchildren.

Garcia said she was tricked by Nakoula and that the script she saw mentioned neither Muslims nor the prophet Muhammad.

She called it "demoralising and degrading".

Garcia became involved when she responded to an advert for a "historical Arabian Desert adventure film," the document says.

The flick was later altered with anti-Islamic voice-overs.

As the repercussions continued, the Pakistani army was drafted in to protect foreign embassies on Thursday after thousands of violent protesters clashed with police.

Dozens were wounded during vicious street fighting after masses of students, many carrying the banners of hardline religious parties, attempted to converge on the diplomatic quarter in the heart of Islamabad.

The outbreak of serious violence for the first time in the capital came amid escalating tension, with protests held on consecutive days all around the country.

The rising threat prompted the US state department to harden its travel warning for American citizens, warning against non-essential trips to Pakistan.

The authorities in Islamabad had been making significant preparations for what many fear will be the most violent day of protests since controversy first flared around Innocence of Muslims.

In response the government declared Friday "a day of love for the prophet", a move which was welcomed by the Taliban and which risks substantially increasing the already high threat of violence.

In Tehran, hundreds of students and clerics gathered outside the French embassy to condemn the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in a French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo.

Protesters chanted "Death to France" and "Down with the US" and burned the flags of the US and Israel.

Egypt's Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, said this act showed how polarised the west and the Muslim world had become.

But Al Azhar, Egypt's seat of Sunni learning, warned that any protest should be peaceful.

Last week the US embassy in Cairo was stormed by an angry crowd.

Western embassies tightened security in the Yemeni capital Sana'a.

Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned both the US-produced flick and the French cartoons as offensive to Muslims and called on Shia and Sunnis to unite in defence of Islamic values.

Anti-US protests were reported from the Afghan capital Kabul.

In Makassar, in Indonesia, protestors burned tyres and forced a McDonald's restaurant to close.

Muslim groups in Germany also announced plans to hold protests on Friday.

In one attempt to defuse tensions, the EU joined with the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the Arab League and the African Union to issue a joint message.

"We share a profound respect for all religions," it said. "We are united in our belief in the fundamental importance of religious freedom and tolerance.

"We condemn any advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to hostility and violence.

While fully recognising freedom of expression, we believe in the importance of respecting all prophets, regardless of which religion they belong to.

"The anguish of Muslims at the production of the flick insulting Islam, posting of its trailer on the internet and other similar acts, is shared by all individuals and communities who refuse to allow religion to be used to fuel provocation, confrontation and extremism."

IslamReligionUnited StatesYouTubeIan BlackJon Booneguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.

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