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\f0\b\fs24 \cf2 BY HARUMENDHAH HELMY \b0 \uc0\u8232
\b ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN\'a0 \b0 \
\ A 14-minute anti-Prophet Muhammad film trailer
has sent protesters in the Arab world into an uproar against the United States and may
have led to an attack that killed four Americans in Libya, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
But who\'92s behind the film?\uc0\u8232 \u8232 In a report soon after the protests over the
film erupted in Egypt on Tuesday, {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444017504577645681057498266.html"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 the Wall Street Journal reported}} it talked to a man who identified himself
as \b Sam Bacile
\b0 and claimed to be responsible for the film. The man said he\'92s
\b Israeli-American \b0 -- and got Jewish donors to give him
\b $5 million \b0 to make the film.\uc0\u8232 \
But after some digging -- it was revealed Sam Bacile might not exist at all! {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK
"http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/13/friends-of-sam-bacile-a-whos-who-of-the-innocence-of-muslims-film-project/"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 TIME Magazine says}}...\uc0\u8232
\b \'93Public records searches by TIME and others have yielded nothing tangible about
a Sam Bacile in California[.]\'94 \b0 \uc0\u8232 \
And the {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0mrl3Q2GBDz-IB8AR9YyByWKqPw?docId=80b06a6ab90443feb4d91aefb6674cc6"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 Israeli government has said}}
it doesn\'92t have any records of Bacile as a citizen. {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443524904577649891086383820.html"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 The Wall Street Journal\'92s Bret Stephens now says}}... \'a0\uc0\u8232
\b \'93...his attempt to pass himself off as an [Israeli-American] is a potentially
deadly slander. His [project] did not cost anything like $5 million to make. There is
no cabal of Jewish donors...\'94 \b0 \uc0\u8232 \
\pard\pardeftab720\sa240\ql\qnatural {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/muhammad-film-consultant-sam-bacile-is-not-israeli-and-not-a-real-name/262290/"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 The Atlantic\'92s Jeffrey Goldberg talked}} to Steve Klein, a man notorious in
California for his anti-Islam activities. Klein said he\'92s one of the consultants
for the project and that he met \'93Bacile\'94 (can anchor do quotation marks here?) only
once, for an hour. He said he did not know the man\'92s real name or where he\'92s from.\uc0\u8232
\u8232 Klein says 15 people were associated with the film. \'93
\b \'91Nobody is anything but an active American citizen. They're from Syria, Turkey, Pakistan,
[there are] some that are from Egypt. Some are Copts but the vast majority are Evangelical[.]\'92
\b0 \'94\uc0\u8232 \ And, amid all the confusion, U.S. federal
officials now say the man responsible for the film is 55-year-old two-time convicted
felon named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://abcnews.com/"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul
\ulc3 ABC News has the man\'92s criminal history}}.\uc0\u8232 \
\pard\pardeftab720\sa240\ql\qnatural
\b \cf2 \'93Records obtained by ABC News show Nakoula was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine
in the 1990s and was later sent to prison on bank fraud charges[.]\'94
\b0 \uc0\u8232 \ Even after he was found to be somewhat responsible
for the film, Nakoula still gave authorities and journalists the run-around.\uc0\u8232
\ \pard\pardeftab720\sa240\ql\qnatural
{\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/news-guide-to-protests-fallout-over-film-mocking-prophet-muhammad/2012/09/13/8f887782-fddf-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 The Associated Press says}}
Nakoula initially denied he was the director of the film -- saying he \'93knew\'94 Bacile.
But the AP then traced a cellphone number used by Bacile to a home in Los Angeles County,
where a reporter found none other than Nakoula himself.\uc0\u8232 \
Meanwhile, the cast and crew involved with the project say they were grossly misled about
the intent of the project, {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/13/world/anti-islam-filmmaker/index.html"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 with one actress telling CNN}} she were told the film was going to be called
Desert Warriors.\uc0\u8232 \ \pard\pardeftab720\sa240\ql\qnatural
{\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/origins-of-provocative-video-shrouded.html?_r=1&src=twr"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 And The New York Times reports}}
-- there might not be an actual film at all\'a0\'97 despite the so-called trailer on YouTube.\
\ \pard\pardeftab720\sa240\ql\qnatural
\b \cf2 \'93Executives at Hollywood agencies said they had never heard of it. Hollywood
unions said they had no involvement. Casting directors said they did not recognize the
actors \'85 Production offices had no records for a movie of that name.\'94
\b0 \uc0\u8232 \ Nakoula has told the AP he was a member of
the Coptic Christian church -- the largest Christian congregation in Egypt. The church
has said it has no involvement in the project.\ \pard\pardeftab720\ql\qnatural
\cf2 \ }