Sep 12, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Excerpted from Fox News: The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other American staff members were killed Tuesday in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, the White House confirmed. President Obama, in a written statement issued Wednesday morning, called the attack “outrageous” and “senseless.”
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff. The protesters, angry over a film that ridiculed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, were firing gunshots and rocket propelled grenades. All of the other officials — three in all — held senior security positions in Benghazi.
Excerpted from The Hill: U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other staffers died in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi Tuesday night, Libyan officials told news organizations early Wednesday.
Stevens and two security officials died of suffocation as they tried to evacuate the consulate, according to reports, as did another consulate worker whose nationality could not be immediately established. The siege came as Egyptian protesters, in a separate incident, scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and tore and burned an American flag that was flying at half-mast for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The protests appear to have been sparked by an anti-Islam film linked to Florida pastor Terry Jones, whose public burning of the Koran in 2010 led to deadly protests in Afghanistan. The film reportedly mocks the prophet Muhammad.
The first thing the Libyan regime installed by Obama does is murder the U.S. ambassador…
UPDATED REUTERS STORY REPORTING THE DEATH: (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on Tuesday night that targeted his car in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a Libyan official said on Wednesday.
“The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them,” the official in Benghazi told Reuters. Asked about the deaths, a U.S. Embassy employee in Tripoli said: “We have no information regarding this.” The employee said the embassy could confirm the death of one person.
The Libyan official said the U.S. ambassador had been on his way to a safer venue after protesters attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and opened fire, killing a staff member, in protest at a U.S. film that they deemed blasphemous to the Prophet Mohammad.
The official said the ambassador and three other staff were killed when gunmen fired rockets at his car. He said the U.S. Embassy had sent a military plane to transport the bodies to Tripoli to fly them to the United States.
Gunmen assaulted the Benghazi compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, who withdrew under heavy fire. The attackers fired at the buildings while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions. Small fires were burning around the compound.
The assault followed a protest in neighboring Egypt where demonstrators scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over the same film which they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
Original Report: (SKY NEWS) A US official has been killed and others wounded in Libya as an armed mob protesting over a film they said offended Islam attacked the US consulate in Benghazi.
Libya’s Supreme Security Committee spokesman said: “One American staff member has died and a number have been injured in the clashes.”
But Abdel Monem al Hurr said he did not know the exact number of injured.
Armed gunmen attacked the compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces before the latter withdrew as they came under heavy fire.
Reporters on the scene said they could see looters raiding the compound, walking off with desks, chairs and washing machines.
Libya’s deputy interior minister Wanis al Sharef said that other staff members were evacuated “and are safe and sound”.
In the Egyptian capital, Cairo, earlier, protesters climbed the walls of the US embassy, tore down the American flag and burned it.
The protests were sparked by outrage over a video being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the US, which the demonstrators says insults the Prophet Mohammed.
The US condemned the attack in Benghazi, amid reports that the mission had been set on fire and targeted with rocket-propelled grenades.
