US President Barack Obama yesterday condemned attacks on a US consulate in eastern Libya that killed the US ambassador and three members of his staff. He ordered increased security at US diplomatic posts around the world.
In a White House statement, Obama said he had ordered “all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe.”
The attacks occurred on Tuesday night in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridicules Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, according to Libyan officials.
US Ambassador Chris Stevens, 52, was killed when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as the building came under attack by a mob with guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Three other Americans were also killed.
Stevens is the first US ambassador to be killed in an attack since 1979, when Ambassador Adolph Dubs was killed in Afghanistan.
The US Department of State identified one of the other Americans killed on Tuesday as Sean Smith, a foreign service information management officer. The identities of the others were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Obama called Stevens a “courageous and exemplary representative of the United States.”
“I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi,” Obama said in the statement.
The four Americans, he said, “exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe.”
The White House said Obama was notified on Tuesday night that Stevens was unaccounted for and was told yesterday morning that Stevens had been killed.
Obama was informed about the developments in Libya by National Security Adviser Tom Donilon as the president began a weekly meeting with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey. The White House said Obama was kept apprised throughout the evening and then again yesterday morning.
The Pentagon said early yesterday that it was working with the Department of State on Obama’s order for increased security around the world.
“We are following this tragic incident closely with the State Department,” said Lieutenant Colonel Steven Warren, a US Department of Defense spokesman. “We are prepared to support the State Department in any way.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said those killed had been “committed to helping the Libyan people reach for a better future.”
Stevens was a career diplomat who spoke Arabic and French, and had already served two tours in Libya, including running the office in Benghazi during the revolt against former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. He was confirmed as ambassador to Libya by the Senate earlier this year.
Stevens’ US Department of State biography, posted on the Web site of the US embassy in Libya, says he “considers himself fortunate to participate in this incredible period of change and hope for Libya.”
Clinton said Stevens had a “passion for service, for diplomacy and for the Libyan people.”
“This assignment was only the latest in his more than two decades of dedication to advancing closer ties with the people of the Middle East and North Africa, which began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco,” Clinton said.
He “risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started,” she said.
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