Protesters threw stones at the two neighboring embassies in Khartoum before they stormed the main gates of the German embassy. They attacked its facade and tore down the flag, replacing it with a black Islamic one before setting fire to the building, one witness said.

Protestors outside the German embassy in Khartoum

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle confirmed the attack on Friday but said that the embassy's staff is safe.

He also said Sudan's ambassador in Berlin had been summoned and reminded "in no uncertain terms of the duty of his government to protect diplomatic institutions."

Due to similar protests and attacks at American embassies and consulates that started earlier this week, Germany had already raised security levels at its foreign diplomatic posts on Friday.

The incidents at the American institutions were triggered, at least in part, by scenes from a privately made film denigrating Islam that were translated into Arabic and posted on YouTube.

The film, called "Innocence of Muslims," portrays the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, homosexual and child abuser. Putting the negative imagery to one side, even the pictorial portrayal of Muhammad is forbidden in Islamic dogma. The person behind the film used a pseudonym and is in hiding.

mz/jlw (Reuters, dpa, AFP)