American ambassador killed in Libya

The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, has been killed in the second largest Libyan city of Benghazi in an attack by Islamist rebels. His car was reportedly attacked, killing him and two bodyguards. a fourth US citizen also died in Benghazi.

The Ambassador was visiting the Benghazi, situated on the Mediterranean coast, where armed militants in Libya, apparently prompted by an Egyptian protest against an American movie said to be anti-Islamic, had attacked the US consulate, setting it on fire. One American was killed during that attack.

As the British ‘The Guardian’ has learned, protesters – believed to be mainly Islamists – stormed the US embassy in Cairo last night, climbing the walls and hoisting a flag with an Islamic inscription. They were protesting against an obscure Islamophobic film produced in the United States. An extract from the film had been posted on the internet.

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He arrived in Tripoli in May 2012 as U.S. Ambassador to Libya. Ambassador Stevens served twice previously in Libya. He served as Special Representative to the Libyan Transitional National Council from March 2011 to November 2011 during the Libyan revolution and as the Deputy Chief of Mission from 2007 to 2009.