As reported by The Telegraph
President Barack Obama has condemned the "outrageous" killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens and four other Americans in an attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
A man wearing a T-shirt depicting the Libyan flag films the
protest at the US Consulate
Updates on US Consulate attack in Libya
Mr Stevens was killed after the US consulate came under attack by a mob with guns and rocket propelled grenades on Tuesday night. They were protesting about an American film called The Innocence of Muslims.
US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens
The Libyan doctor who treated him said the diplomat died of severe asphyxiation and that he tried for 90 minutes to revive him.
Mr Obama said in a statement: "I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens," Mr Obama said in a statement.
"Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America's commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives."The US is dispatching a Marine fleet anti-terrorist security team to boost security in Libya, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters.
Libya's deputy prime minister, Mustafa Abushagur, condemned the "cowardly act of attacking the US Consulate and the killing of Mr Stevens and the other diplomats".
It was not clear if the ambassador was in his car or the Libyan consulate when the attack occurred on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Mr Stevens was apparently killed when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate on Tuesday night to try to evacuate staff caught in the protests.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond urged the Libyan authorities to bring those responsible for the deadly attack to justice.
"We condemn the violence that was displayed and we will support the authorities in getting to the bottom of who is responsible and ensuring they are brought to justice in a proper way," he said.
Afghanistan took the step of banning YouTube to prevent people from watching the anti-Islam film that sparked the attack. The Taliban released a statement calling on Afghans to prepare for a "battle" with America over the Prophet Mohammad film.
Wanis al-Sharif, the deputy minister of the interior, claimed the attack was carried out by Gaddafi loyalists.
"There were RPGs...which shows there were forces exploiting this. They are remnants of the (former) regime," he said at a news conference that was broadcast on Al Jazeera television.
He suggested that the attackers could have been acting in revenge for the extradition from Mauritania this month of Gaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.
Gaddafi was ousted by rebel forces backed by NATO air power in August 2011 and was killed in October after months as a fugitive.
The US Embassy sent a military plane to take the four bodies first to Tripoli and then to the US, an unnamed Libyan official told Reuters.
Mr Stevens arrived in Libya as ambassador in May this year. He had previously served as Special Representative to the Libyan Transitional National Council from March 2011 to November 2011.
The attack followed another earlier in the day on the American embassy in Cairo, in which no-one was injured but the flag was taken down and torn up and replaced with the black flag used by radical Islamists.
The violence was condemned by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, who confirmed the death of a State Department official. "We are heartbroken by this terrible loss," she said. She said that in light of the attacks the US would be stepping up protection of "our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide".
The mobs involved in both embassy attacks were mainly comprised of Salafis, followers of an ultra-traditionalist approach to Islam that has spread across North Africa as well as much of the rest of the Arab world from Saudi Arabia in recent years.
Although they were not the prime movers in the "Arab Spring" protests, they have become much more visible in countries like Libya where secular dictators have been overthrown.
They are incensed by a film made in America and promoted on Youtube entitled The Innocence of Muslims that is intended to expose the "hypocrisy" of Islam. It not only portrays the Prophet, which the religion prohibits, but ridicules him as a homosexual and advocate of paedophilia, and shows him having sex.
It was apparently made by an Israeli-American businessman and backed by Terry Jones, the fundamentalist pastor who previously threatened to hold public burnings of the Koran. A version of the film, which is in English, has been dubbed into Egyptian Arabic and shown on the website of an Egyptian Coptic Christian businessman based in America.
In Cairo, the protests started on Tuesday afternoon, with hundreds of Salafists attacking and some climbing the fortress-like walls of the embassy. They did not enter the building itself, but one man managed to bring down the Stars and Stripes flag and replace it with a black flag with the Islamic inscription "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet".
That flag has become associated with Salafism, though other Islamist groups have used it in the Arab Spring.
The attack in Benghazi, which last year was the launch-pad of the revolution which overthrew Col Muammar Gaddafi and is a seat of Islamist politics in Libya, took place later in the evening.
The mob there was armed and sprayed the Libyan security forces defending the building with gunfire, and even shot rocket-propelled grenades. Overwhelming the defences, they then proceeded to hurl small home-made bombs at the buildings, loot it and then set it on fire.
But Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, said: ""I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi.
"It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."
Mr Obama paid a personal tribute to Mr Stevens, who he described as "a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States".
"Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi. As Ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya's transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice. I am profoundly grateful for his service to my Administration, and deeply saddened by this loss.
"The brave Americans we lost represent the extraordinary service and sacrifices that our civilians make every day around the globe. As we stand united with their families, let us now redouble our own efforts to carry their work forward."
Hillary Clinto, the US secretary of state, said in a statement: "I had the privilege of swearing in Chris for his post in Libya only a few months ago. He spoke eloquently about his passion for service, for diplomacy and for the Libyan people.
"This assignment was only the latest in his more than two decades of dedication to advancing closer ties with the people of the Middle East and North Africa which began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. As the conflict in Libya unfolded, Chris was one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi.
"He risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started. Chris was committed to advancing America’s values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger."
Source: The Telegraph
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