Stevens, 52, died on Tuesday as 20 gun-wielding attackers stormed the
U.S. consulate, angry about an American-made movie that depicted Prophet
Mohammad as a fraud and a womanizer. The attackers fired automatic
weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at the consulate, Deputy Interior
Minister Wanis al-Sharif told a news conference in Benghazi.
Nearly a dozen Americans were inside the consulate at the time, guarded
only by Libyan security. For nearly 20 minutes the Libyan guards
exchanged fire with the attackers, who hurled a firebomb inside.
The militants burned down at least one building in the attack. It's not
clear whether Stevens was killed by smoke inhalation or was in a car,
which may have been hit by a mortar, as he tried to escape.
Another American died from smoke inhalation during the attack. Two more
individuals who worked with the Americans, possibly guards who were
trying to get Stevens out of the area, were also killed.
"I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in
Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador
Chris Stevens. 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. 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. 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," President Obama said in a
statement.
Stevens, who was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and
served two tours of duty in Libya, was nominated by President Obama to
be ambassador to Libya early this year. His term of appointment began on
May 22, and he was in Libya during the revolution, serving as the
Amercan repreentavie to the transitional national council.
The U.S. is now evacuating all Americans working with the State
Department from Benghazi, and the U.S. is also bracing for more attacks
in the Middle East, and considers this an extremely dangerous situation
in the region right now.
Anger over the movie that some believe insulted the Prophet Muhammad
also provoked protests in Cairo Tuesday, where demonstrators climbed the
walls of the U.S. Embassy, took down the American flag and replaced it
with a black flag.
A senior U.S. official told ABC News the State Department is on alert
throughout the region and fear there could be more attacks to come. "
The group that attacked the consulate is called Ansar al Sharia,
according to Libyan sources. The group has claimed responsibility for
the attack but did not mention the movie as motivation. The group is
close to al Qaeda ideology and exists in east Libya.
"I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi
today," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement released
Tuesday night. "As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we
have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed. We
are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with
his family and those who have suffered in this attack."
Libyan President Mohammed Yussef Magariaf promised to coordinate
additional support to protect Americans in the country, condemned the
assault on the embassy and pledged his government's full cooperation,
Clinton said.
In Cairo, dozens of protesters scaled the embassy walls and took down the flag from a pole in the courtyard. After trying unsuccessfully to burn it, they ripped it apart and replaced it with a black flag bearing Arabic writing. Reports that the black flag was from al Qaeda were not confirmed.
Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, said today the United
States was working with Egyptian security to restore order.
"This came up pretty quickly," she said. "[It was a] relatively modest
group of people and the Egyptian security was caught off guard."
David Linfield, an embassy spokesman, said that no guns were involved.
"No one fired," he said.
According to The Atlantic,
the Wall Street Journal and Egyptian media, the movie is called
"Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims" and has been promoted by Terry Jones,
the controversial Florida preacher whose Koran burning in March 2010
led to the deadly violence in Afghanistan.
Jones said Tuesday in a statement that the movie was actually titled
"Innocence of Muslims" and was intended not to attack Muslims but to
show the "destructive ideology of Islam."
"The movie further reveals in a satirical fashion the life of Muhammad," he said.
Egyptian media also reported that two Egyptians from the Christian minority Coptic group had helped with the movie. Clips in Arabic and English have been released on YouTube.
In a statement Tuesday, the U.S. embassy said it condemned "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims."
Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, jumped on the
embassy's statement with one of his own.
"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,"
he said. "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."
Clinton said anger over a movie is no excuse for violence.
"Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to
inflammatory material posted on the Internet," she said. "The United
States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious
beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to
the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never
any justification for violent acts of this kind."
ABC News' Martha Raddatz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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