Barack beefs up security after US ambassador to Libya killed
PRESIDENT Barack Obama yesterday strongly condemned the killing of the US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff, calling it an “outrageous attack”, and ordered stepped-up security at US diplomatic posts worldwide.
“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,” Obama said.
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US diplomats were killed in a rocket attack on their car late on Tuesday, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a US-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.
Sean Smith, a foreign service information management officer, was identified as one of the diplomats killed, in a statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The names of the two others were withheld while the government notified their families.
Stevens, a 21-year veteran of the foreign service, was one of the first American officials on the ground in Benghazi during the uprising against former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
“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.
“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,” he said.
Gunmen had attacked and burnt the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, a centre of last year’s uprising against Gaddafi, late on Tuesday evening, killing one US consular official. The building was evacuated.
The Libyan official said Stevens was being driven from the consulate building to a safer location when gunmen opened fire.
“While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants,” Obama said. Clinton also denounced the attack, calling it “vicious and violent”.
The California-born ambassador, Stevens, was trying to leave the consulate building for a safer location as part of an evacuation when gunmen launched an intense attack, apparently forcing security personnel to withdraw.
The attack was believed to have been carried out by Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda-style Sunni Islamist group that has been active in Benghazi, a Libyan security official said.
Witnesses said the mob also included tribesmen, militia and other gunmen.
The attack raised questions about the future US diplomatic presence in Libya, relations between Washington and Tripoli, the unstable security situation in post-Gaddafi Libya and whether more protests might take place in the Muslim world.
The film portrayed Mohammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake. In one clip posted on YouTube, Mohammad was shown in an apparent sexual act with a woman. For many Muslims it is blasphemous even to show a depiction of the Prophet.