US ambassador to Libya killed in rocket attack
BENGHAZI: The US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in a rocket attack on their car in US consulate in Benghazi.
Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagour confirmed on Wednesday that US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed in the attack. He also condemned the “cowardly act of attacking the US consulate and the killing of Mr Stevens and the other diplomats” on Twitter.
The Libyan official said the ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was being driven from the consulate building to a safer location when gunmen opened fire.
“The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them,” the official in Benghazi told Reuters.
There was no immediate comment from the state department in Washington. US ambassadors in such volatile countries are accompanied by tight security, usually travelling in well-protected convoys. Security officials will be considering whether the two attacks were coordinated.
Libyan deputy prime minister Mustafa Abu Shagour condemned the killing of the US diplomats as a cowardly act.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in a statement late on Tuesday, confirmed the death of the U.S. consular diplomat in Libya, who was not identified, and condemned the attack there; but she made no mention of an attack on the Ambassador’s car.
