(UPDATE) US envoy, 3 others killed in Libya attack

Agence France-Presse

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The American ambassador in Libya and 3 officials were killed when a mob attacked the US consulate in Benghazi

(UPDATED) BENGHAZI, Libya – Washington’s envoy to Libya and three other Americans were killed when a mob angered over a movie mocking Islam stormed the US consulate in Benghazi, sparking world outrage and drawing an apology from Libyan authorities Wednesday.

President Barack Obama quickly ordered increased security at US diplomatic missions around the world, while slamming Tuesday’s deadly assault in Benghazi, an Islamist stronghold in eastern Libya, which coincided with the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the United States.

“I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens,” Obama said, in a White House statement.

“I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe,” he added.

A 50-strong unit US Marine counter-terrorism unit was en route to Libya to bolster security, a defence official said.

Stevens, a career officer with the US foreign service, had been in the country for less than four months after taking up his post in the capital Tripoli in May.

Witnesses said he was killed when angry Islamists late Tuesday attacked the consulate with rocket-propelled grenades before looting and torching the building.

A security source in Benghazi — cradle of the 2011 uprising that toppled the regime of late dictator Moamer Kadhafi — said it was suspected that the envoy may have suffocated due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

A picture taken by an AFP photographer shows what witnesses say is an injured Stevens being aided by Libyans inside the premises of the consulate.

The Benghazi attack came just hours after Islamists had stormed the US embassy in Cairo in a similar protest against the amateur American-made Internet video.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the killings should “shock the consciences” of people of all faiths but vowed that the actions of “a savage and small group” would not make Washington turn its back on Libya.

Clips of the film at the centre of the controversy have been posted on the Internet and private satellite channels have been showing segments.

The low-budget movie, “Innocence of Muslims” in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.

It pokes fun at the Prophet Mohammed and touches on themes of paedophilia and homosexuality, while showing him sleeping with women, talking about killing children and referring to a donkey as “the first Muslim animal.”

The film was produced by Israeli-American Sam Bacile, according to the Wall Street Journal, but Egyptian media say that some Egyptian Copts living in the US were involved in the production.

The film is being promoted by controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones, who has drawn protests in the past for burning the Koran and vehemently opposing the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

‘Apologies to the American people’

The killings were strongly condemned by Libya’s General National Congress, which nonetheless maintained it plans to elect a new prime minister at a session later on Wednesday.

The first task for the new premier will be to bring order to the myriad of militias born out of last year’s uprising.

“We present our apologies to the United States, the American people and the entire world for what happened,” the GNC’s president, Mohamed al-Megaryef, in a statement.

The United Nations strongly condemned the killings. The UN’s top political official, Jeffrey Feltman, told the Security Council they “further emphasise the security challenges facing the authorities in Libya.”

The Benghazi assault came after thousands of Egyptian demonstrators Tuesday tore down the Stars and Stripes at the US embassy in Cairo and replaced it with a black Islamic flag, similar to one adopted by several militant groups.

Nearly 3,000 demonstrators, most of them hardline Islamist supporters of the Salafist movement, had gathered at the embassy in a protest over the film.

New protests against the film were held on Wednesday outside US embassies in Sudan and Tunisia but they were held under tight security and there were no immediate reports of any violence.

An Egyptian official said that security has been stepped up in the area around the US embassy in Cairo.

The Muslim Brotherhood called for protests outside mosques across Egypt on Friday. The Egyptian government condemned the film but called for restraint.

The Vatican condemned both anti-Muslim “provocations” and the resulting “unacceptable violence.”

British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the anger sparked by the film showed the need for responsible handling of sensitivities but said there was no possible justification for the killing of the US personnel.

“We understand that insensitive publications give great effects and it is the responsibility of everybody to think very carefully before they publish or speak in any country where their words or images they use are likely to give offence,” Hammond said.

“But there is no excuse ever for a violent response to such provocation,” he added.

France, which was a major backer of last year’s uprising that ousted Kadhafi, demanded that the new authorities take action to restore order in Benghazi which has seen a wave of violence in recent months.

“We had hoped and continued to hope that it would pacify the country but obviously you can always have extremists who behave in this way,” said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

“It is absolutely unacceptable and the Libyan authorities must react.” – Agence France-Presse

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