The US ambassador to Libya has
died after an attack by militiamen on
the US consulate in the eastern city
of Benghazi, reports say. Ambassador Christopher Stevens is
said to be among four US officials
killed in a protest over a US-produced
film that is said to insult the Prophet
Muhammad. The US state department has only
confirmed the death of one official -
but it has not named them. Protesters have also attacked the US
embassy in Cairo over the film. In the attack in Benghazi, unidentified
armed men stormed the grounds,
shooting at buildings and throwing
handmade bombs into the compound. Security forces returned fire but
Libyan officials say they were
overwhelmed. A Libyan official has said Ambassador
Stevens died from suffocation as a
result of the attack. 'No justification' In a statement earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed the
death of a US official, saying: "We are
heartbroken by this terrible loss". "Some have sought to justify this
vicious behaviour as a response to
inflammatory material posted on the
Internet," she said in a statement. "The United States deplores any
intentional effort to denigrate the
religious beliefs of others. But let me
be clear: There is never any
justification for violent acts of this
kind." Reports say a militia known as the
Ansar al-Sharia brigade was involved
in the attack, but the group has
denied the claim, the BBC's Rana
Jawad in Tripoli says. Our correspondent says many people
are still armed following the conflict
that overthrew Col Muammar
Gaddafi last year. The film that sparked the
demonstration is said to have been
produced by a 52-year-old US citizen
from California named Sam Bacile, and
promoted by an expatriate Egyptian
Copt. The two men are described as having
anti-Islamic views. A trailer of the low-budget movie has
appeared on YouTube translated
into Arabic. There were calls on social media
networks for protests against US
interests in the capital, Tripoli, but no
disturbances have been confirmed,
our correspondent says. The rally followed a demonstration in
Cairo, in which protesters breached
the US embassy and tore down the US
flag, which was flying at half mast to
mark the 9/11 attacks, and replaced
it with an Islamist banner. Thousands of protesters had
gathered outside the US embassy in
the Egyptian capital. Egyptian protesters condemned what
they said was the humiliation of the
Prophet of Islam under the pretext of
freedom of speech. "Both Muslims and Christians are
participating in this protest against
this offence to Islam," said one
protester, according to Associated
Press news agency.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19570254