Makers of anti-Islamic movie influenced by preacher: Report

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The makers of an anti-Islamic movie that set off violent anti-US protests in the Arab world were influenced by a southern California-based Coptic preacher, who made a business out of insults to the Prophet Mohammed, The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said this preacher named Zakaria Botros Henein teaches that Mohammed was a necrophile, a homosexual and a pedophile.

He has not been directly linked to the film Innocence Of Muslims, but the three men behind the movie were all supporters of his views, the report said.

Mr Steve Klein, a Christian who worked on the script, said Mr Botros was "a close friend" and compared him favourably to US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, the paper noted.