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[ajosshi]

The US ambassador to Libya is among four Americans killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, President Barack Obama has confirmed.

Unidentified armed men stormed the grounds overnight amid uproar among Muslims over a US-produced film said to insult the Prophet Muhammad.

They shot at buildings and threw handmade bombs into the compound.

It has not been confirmed how the ambassador, J Christopher Stevens, and the others died.

Protesters against the film also attacked the US embassy in Cairo on Tuesday night.

In Kabul, the Afghan government gave orders for the video-sharing website Youtube to be closed to the public until the offending film was removed.

In a statement, President Obama condemned the "outrageous attack" on the facility in Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city which was a rebel stronghold during the uprising against Col Muammar Gaddafi.

"Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States," he said.

"Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi."

Mr Obama ordered a tightening of security at US diplomatic posts around the globe.

Libya's interim leader, Mohammed Magarief, apologised to the US over the killings, which he called "cowardly criminal acts".

Reports say a militia known as the Ansar al-Sharia brigade was involved in the attack, but the group has denied the claim, the BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says.

'Savage group'

Reports suggest that Ambassador Stevens and his staff went to the consulate in an attempt to evacuate the site after it was attacked.

They were reportedly trying to leave the consulate building for a safer location when gunmen launched an intense attack, apparently forcing back security guards.

"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets in their direction," a Libyan official in Benghazi told Reuters news agency.

A second US man killed in the attack was named as Sean Smith, a father of two who was employed as an information management officer.

The names of the remaining two victims have not yet been released.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Mr Smith in a statement as "one of the best".

Speaking to reporters later, Mrs Clinton paid tribute to both Mr Stevens and Mr Smith.

She said that many Americans were asking how such an attack could have happened in a country America had helped to liberate.

"This was an attack by a small and savage group, not the people and government of Libya," she said.

The attack was condemned by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague as "brutal and senseless".

"These diplomats were serving not only their own country but the people of Libya and were working for the peace and stability of Libya in the future," he said in a statement.

Safety concerns

Our correspondent says many people are still armed following the conflict that overthrew Gaddafi.

Analysts say the attack will raise serious new concerns about stability in the country and the ability of the new Libyan administration to maintain security.

Other countries will be wondering whether their consular staff are safe in Libya, they say.

In June, two British bodyguards were injured in an attack in Benghazi on a convoy carrying the British ambassador to Libya. Red Cross and UN staff also came under attack this year.

The film that sparked the protests is said to have been produced by a 52-year-old US citizen from California named Sam Bacile, and promoted by an expatriate Egyptian Copt. The two men are described as having anti-Islamic views.

A trailer of the low-budget movie, which correspondents say is highly provocative and insulting to Muslims, has appeared on YouTube translated into Arabic.

A demonstration in Cairo on Tuesday saw protesters breach the US embassy and tear down the US flag, which was flying at half-mast to mark the 9/11 attacks.

They condemned what they said was an attack on the Prophet of Islam under the pretext of freedom of speech.

An Islamic tenet bans the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.

Cartoons featuring the Islamic religion's key figure sparked violent unrest among Muslims in 2005 when they were published by a Danish newspaper.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19570254

[young_clinton]

More marines stationed in the embassies armed to the teeth.

[visitorq]

I guess that's the sort of appreciation you get when your military has helped install Al Qaeda affiliates into power...

[Junior]

[Ya-ta Boy]

I read this story a lot differently than the other posters.

It looks to me like the Dutch/Israeli/American jihadists have finally found a way to get 'real' attention, at least more than the amount of attention they got a couple of years ago (Terry Jones) when they only got 27 (?) Afghans killed (who cares about a pack of brown-skinned Afghans--4 white Americans are a much bigger deal).

I was disgusted by the moral pigs who defended Terry Jones 2 years ago and I see no reason in this episode to change my view. Religious extremists are pigs.

Free speech is all well and good when you are talking about you and a couple of friends at the local bar griping about the government. Free speech is all well and good when you run an obnoxious parade through a neighborhood trying to provoke an incident. Pretty much everyone involved grew up in the same culture and can adjust more or less to the self-centered idiocy of it all.

We no longer live in that kind of world. We live in an interconnected world where the idiots among us can deliberately contact the idiots among 'them'.

Someone has to figure out a way to handle this before the idiots take over the world.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Interesting reports coming out as info comes in.

For one thing, the riots have spread to Tunisia and Sudan. Worse, the Egyptian government is staying quiet.

However, the Libyan gov't has officially apologized, and reports are that 10 Libyans died trying to protect the US consulate. On top of that, reports are that while other riots are spontaneous, the Libyan one was a pre-planned attack by a militia group.

On the other front, the Bacile guy behind the movie was first reported to have gone into hiding. That was before people started saying he doesn't even exist and that since he is not real he is not Israeli and is some right-wing guy with a right-wing radio program. Named Klein. Hunh?

Oh, and Jim DeMint has joined Sarah Palin as a defender of Mitt's idiocy.

[Ya-ta Boy]

The best comment I've seen so far:

"A Jewish idiot makes a film, a Christian idiot promotes it, Muslim idiots kill over it, and Republican idiots condemn Obama."

That pretty well sums it up at this point.

[rollo]

We got it Ya-ta!! Free speech is worse than murder!! The movie was insulting and the timing strange, just when Israel wants the U.S to sign on to a war with Iran. Create an incident which fires up the U.S, population against mulims. What is an Al-Queda affiliate? is that like a franchise , is their a fee.

[visitorq]

[stilicho25]

Yata, a bad film should not result in violence. I don't care how objectionably it is. Honestly, if we still watch birth of a nation in film classics class, anything goes. Part and parcel of living in the modern world is living with jerks and not killing them.

[Kuros]

Who really thinks that Islamists killed a U.S. ambassador because of a damned video?

Probably the same people who in 2012 think the Bush Administration invaded Iraq because they genuinely feared Saddam had yellow-cake.

[Titus]

[Titus]

http://www.alternativeright.com/main/blogs/exit-strategies/getting-gaddafied/

[Fox]

This does not represent us.

[Zackback]

I thought it was done to coincide with 9-11.