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Gunmen storm US consulate in Libya, kill envoy, 3 staffers

A man waves his rifle after the US consulate was set on fire in Benghazi. (inset) US envoy Christopher Stevens, who was killed in the attack. — AFP

Cairo/Washington, September 12
US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed as a mob armed with guns and rockets stormed the American consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, angry over a film deemed offensive to Islam.

Christopher Stevens and three consulate staff were killed when the envoy went to the consulate as a frenzied mob stormed the premises and ran over the facility setting it ablaze, Libyan and US officials said.

The attack on the consulate came hours after protesters attacked the US Embassy in Cairo, tearing down the Star and Stripes and hoisting a black one that read, "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger."

Make no mistake. We will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people. — Barack Obama, US President

Media reports warned of more such protests erupting in Egypt as the ruling Muslim Brotherhood called for a nationwide protest against the film ridiculing Prophet Mohammad. Describing the attack as "outrageous", President Barack Obama ordered stepping up of security in US diplomatic posts all over the globe.

"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 in a statement released by the White House in the first official confirmation about the death of the Ambassador in Libya.