Motivation for killing of US envoy in Libya unclear
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Tripoli/Washington - The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, were killed by insurgents in an fiery attack on the consulate in Benghazi, but USofficials Wednesday were uncertain about the motivation.
It was not clear if the attack was provoked by an anti-Islamic, US-produced film, Innocence of Muslims, or the result of careful planning by a terrorist group. US officials declined to comment onthe motivation of the attack, saying only that it was a "complex attack" and it was too early in the investigation to tell.
Quilliam, a well-respected British-based counter-terrorism think tank, said it believed the assault "was a well planned terroristattack" that would have occurred regardless of the protests against the film.
Quilliam and other sources, including the New York Times, noted that 24 hours before the attack, the leader of al-Qaeda, Aymanal-Zawahiri, posted a video on Jihadist forums urging Libyans to avenge the killing of his second in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi in a US-drone strike earlier this year in Pakistan.
The al-Zawahiri video marked the anniversary of the September 11,2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
Stevens disappeared in the smoke and fire of the US consulate building that came under attack beginning about 2000 GMT Tuesday andlasting about four and a half hours.
Only when his body was delivered to the Benghazi airport for transport to Tripoli and then Germany hours after the attack was itclear that he had died, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters in Washington on condition of anonymity.
President Barack Obama said the assailants would face justice fortheir "outrageous and shocking attack." "We will not waiver in our commitment to see that justice is donein this terrible act. Make no mistake, justice will be done," he said at the White House, accompanied by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A mass protest outside the consulate Tuesday against a US-producedfilm deemed insulting to Prophet Mohammed was "manipulated" byloyalists of Moamer Gaddafi's deposed regime, the Libyan InteriorMinistry said.
Rocket-propelled grenades were used in the attack, which alsocaused extensive damage to the consulate building, the ministry said.
The chief of Libya's National Congress, the country's highest authority, blamed the assault on Gaddafi loyalists and vowed that theculprits would be brought to justice.
"This cowardly deed is an episode in the series of evil andconspiracy against the February 17 revolution (that toppled theGaddafi regime)," added Mohammed al-Magariaf at a press conference inthe capital, Tripoli.
Al-Magariaf called on Libyans to be united to "block attempts toharm the country's security," speaking to his 200-member assembly asit chooses a new government whose immediate priority will be torestore stability to Libya.
The proliferation of arms, left behind from the conflict thatended Gaddafi's 42-year rule last year, continues to pose a threat tothe North African country's security.
Sean Smith, an information management officer with 10 years service in the diplomatic corps, was among the dead. The authorities did not disclose the names of the other victims because theirfamilies had yet to be notified of their deaths.
Clinton said that US efforts in Libya would not be anothercasualty of the incident. The Benghazi attack came hours after demonstrators scaled thefortified walls of the US embassy in Cairo and replaced the flag witha black banner, which is popular with radical Islamists, in anunprecedented security breach.
Scores of mainly Islamist protesters were Wednesday staging asit-in outside the US embassy amid heavy deployment of security forces in Cairo.
Both Clinton and Obama pointed to reports that the protests were sparked by an anti-Islamic video circulated on the internet, and condemned violence in the name of religion.
"There is no justification for this. None," Clinton said."Violence like this is no way to honour religion or faith, and aslong as there are those who would take innocent life in the name of God, the world will never know a true and lasting peace." The attack was condemned by the United Nations, European Union,Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France and other countries.
Italy, the former colonial power in Libya, said the attack would not derail Libya's democratic process. "The recent elections showedthe democratic will of the people. It was a national success. Libyaremains a close partner," Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi toldreporters in Valletta, where he held official talks with the Maltese government.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the movie that sparked theprotests was an "insult" to the world's 1.5 billion Muslims.
By late Wednesday, YouTube restricted access in Egypt and Libya to the video. But Terry Jones, the obscure anti-Islamist Florida pastor who has provoked worldwide protests with his Koran burnings and who has supported the film, rebuffed appeals from the Pentagon to withdraw his support.
