U.S. ambassador to Libya, 3 others killed in rocket attack, witness says

(CNN) -- The United States ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, was killed in a rocket attack on the American Consulate in the city of Benghazi on Tuesday, a contractor working at the mission said Wednesday after seeing Stevens' body.

Three American security staff were also killed, said the contractor, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

He said he saw all four bodies on the street Wednesday morning. The bodies are now in the Central Hospital in Benghazi, he said.

Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur appeared to confirm that the envoy had been killed, saying that Stevens was "a friend of Libya, and we are shocked at the the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi."

"I condemn these barbaric acts in the strongest possible terms. This is an attack on America, Libya and free people everywhere," Abushagur said on Twitter.

The contractor in Benghazi said he could hear rocket-propelled grenade attacks last night.

Libyans were also killed, the contractor said, saying the victims were shot on the spot.

The deaths came as protesters attacked U.S. diplomatic compounds in Libya and Egypt on Tuesday, angry about an online film considered offensive to Islam.

The United States has not confirmed the deaths.

Mobs hit U.S. buildings in Libya, Egypt; American diplomat killed



(CBS/AP) CAIRO -- Protesters angered over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad fired gunshots and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing one American, witnesses and the State Department said. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, tearing and replacing the American flag with an Islamic banner.

Tuesday's attacks were the first such assaults on U.S. diplomatic facilities in either country, at a time when both Libya and Egypt are struggling to overcome the turmoil following the ouster of their longtime leaders, Muammar Qaddafi and Hosni Mubarak, in uprisings last year.

The protests in both countries were sparked by outrage over a film ridiculing Muhammad produced by an American in California and being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the United States. Excerpts from the film, dubbed into Arabic, were posted on YouTube.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed that one State Department officer had been killed in the protest at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. She strongly condemned the attack and said she had called Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif "to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya."

Clinton expressed concern that the protests might spread to other countries. She said the U.S. is working with "partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide."

Stevens was the American envoy to the Libyan rebel movement that overthrew dictator Moammar Gadhafi last year, based in the rebel capital of Benghazi.

A speaker of Arabic and French, he was among the first American diplomats sent to Libya in 2007 when the United States resumed ties with the Gadhafi regime.

The last time an American ambassador was killed by terrorists was in 1979, when the envoy to Afghanistan, Adolph Dubs, was kidnapped and killed during an attempt to rescue him, according to State Department records.

12//09//​2012___U.S. Ambassador in Libya (bani ghazi) They are lynching the US ambassador, exactly as they did to Gadaffi. Don't believe the mainstream media lies about him being killed by a rocket propelled grenade!...

So where are you getting the real info?

*edit* Hawk posted a link in the other thread. The Ambassador was choked to death apparently.

Which other thread?...

Powder keg. The slightest spark and people are thrown into a frenzy that demands retribution. If this happened in the US, Britain, Europe; there would be no rest and no quarter for anyone involved. Will Libya even attempt to find those responsible?

So where are you getting the real info?

*edit* Hawk posted a link in the other thread. The Ambassador was choked to death apparently.

Powder keg. The slightest spark and people are thrown into a frenzy that demands retribution. If this happened in the US, Britain, Europe; there would be no rest and no quarter for anyone involved. Will Libya even attempt to find those responsible?

Officially, they will likely make an attempt.

In all likelihood, nothing will turn up or the investigators will just look-away.

Being that there's an "elected" "pro-Western" president, I'd imagine they'll make some rudimentary noise about trying to bring the "radicals" to justice, but I wouldn't realistically expect them to expend any effort whatsoever doing so.

I don't expect the US to do a damned thing about it either, since we've already issued our "condemn in the strongest words" auto-reply.