CAIRO — Ashraf Mohammed, 24, a flag vendor, woke up early Wednesday and took his wares to the front of the US embassy in downtown Cairo. He was selling black Islamist flags with the decree “There is no God but one God and Mohammed is his prophet” — flags that looked just like the ones used by Al-Qaeda.
Behind him, the walls of the American compound were overwhelmed with graffiti of crude curse words, as well as such phrases in Arabic like "Oh Obama, all of us are grandsons of Osama" and "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews the army of Mohammed is coming." “United States of Muslim,” was scrawled on the front of the embassy. A white version of the Islamist flag hung limply from the center of the entryway as riot police stood idly underneath.