CONFIRMED !
According to Reuters the US Ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens, has been assassinated along with 3 staffers in an apparent rocket attack against United States Officials in Libya.
(Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to Libya [J Christopher Stevens] and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on Tuesday night that targeted his car in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a Libyan official said on Wednesday.
“The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them,” the official in Benghazi told Reuters. Asked about the deaths, a U.S. Embassy employee in Tripoli said: “We have no information regarding this.” The employee said the embassy could confirm the death of one person.
The Libyan official said the U.S. ambassador had been on his way to a safer venue after protesters attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and opened fire, killing a staff member, in protest at a U.S. film that they deemed blasphemous to the Prophet Mohammad.
The official said the ambassador and three other staff were killed when gunmen fired rockets at his car. He said the U.S. Embassy had sent a military plane to transport the bodies to Tripoli to fly them to the United States.
Gunmen assaulted the Benghazi compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces, who withdrew under heavy fire. The attackers fired at the buildings while others threw handmade bombs into the compound, setting off small explosions. Small fires were burning around the compound.
US Ambassador J Christopher Stevens and Libyan President Mustafa Abdel Jalil
The assault followed a protest in neighboring Egypt where demonstrators scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over the same film which they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad. (article)
An armed man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames after being set on fire inside the U.S. Consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya, late on Tuesday, September 11. An armed mob protesting a film they said offended Islam attacked the consulate in Benghazi and set fire to the building, killing one American staff member, witnesses and officials said. In addition now the US Ambassador has been assassinated in a rocket attack against his motorcade.
Libyan Transitional National Council – October 2011
CONFIRMED Libya Deputy condemns killing – (Reuters) – Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagour confirmed on Wednesday that the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed in an attack in Libya.
“I do condemn the cowardly act of attacking the U.S. consulate and the killing of Mr. Stevens and the other diplomats,”
– Abu Shagur wrote on Twitter.
Stevens and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on Tuesday night that targeted his car in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a Libyan official had told Reuters.