Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for killing US ambassador in attack on US consulate in Libya
Terror group says assault was response to US drone strike in Pakistan that killed its Libyan-born number two
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility on Saturday for Tuesday’s attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, in which US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
The terror group said the assault was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and executed in response to a US drone strike in Pakistan that killed the organization’s number two, Abu Yahya al-Libi.
Libi was a Libyan national who served as lieutenant to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaeda.
Eastern Libya’s deputy interior minister, Wanis el-Sharef, said Friday that four people had been arrested in connection with the attack.
In an audio recording released to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary, Zawahiri asserted an Islamic duty to “liberate” every inch of Muslim lands, and called upon Muslims to “purify” their countries of corrupt leaders during what he termed a period of “American weakness.” Muslims should “topple the western proxies” left in their countries “and especially the Saud clan and the gulf sheiks in the Arabian peninsula,” he declared.
US envoy Chris Stevens speaking to local media in Benghazi last year. (photo credit: AP/Ben Curtis)
As early as Wednesday, Israeli and American media reported that al-Qaeda operatives had carried out the attack, using the release of an anti-Islam movie that sparked violent protests around the Muslim world as a pretext for the chaos.
Killed in the attack in Benghazi were Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith, and private security guards Glen Doherty and Tyrone S. Woods.
Stevens died as he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff when the mob of protesters, including gunmen armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, attacked.
The consulate is a one-story villa located in a fenced garden in downtown Benghazi. A small contingent of Libyan security forces protecting the facility also fired in the air, trying to intimidate the attackers, said el-Sharef. But faced with the mob’s superior size and firepower, the Libyan security withdrew, el-Sharef said. Gunmen stormed the building, looted its contents and torched it, he said.
Al-Sharef said Stevens and a consulate staffer who had stayed behind in the building were killed in the initial attack on the consulate. The rest of the staff successfully evacuated to another building nearby, preparing to move to Benghazi Airport after daybreak to fly to the capital, Tripoli, he said. Hours after the storming of the consulate, a separate group of gunmen attacked the other building, opening fire on the more than 30 Americans and Libyans inside. Two more Americans were killed and 32 were wounded – 14 Americans and 18 Libyans, he said.
Stevens, he added, was visiting Benghazi to inaugurate an American culture center in the city. His body was identified by his Egyptian interpreter. Stevens died of severe asphyxiation from smoke inhalation, according to the Libyan doctor who tried for 90 minutes to save him. Ziad Abu Zeid said that Stevens was brought to the Benghazi Medical Center by Libyans the night before, with no other Americans, and that initially no one realized he was the ambassador. Stevens was practically dead when he arrived close to 1 a.m. on Wednesday. “We tried to revive him for an hour and a half but with no success,” Abu Zeid said.
Stevens was a career member of the US Foreign Service specializing in the Middle East, and served at various diplomatic posts around the region, including a stint as political section chief at the US consulate in Jerusalem.
He served as deputy chief of mission at the US Libyan embassy from 2007-2009, as part of the team that re-established US-Libyan official relations after a decades-long hiatus. During the Libyan civil war, he was the US representative to the Libyan Transitional National Council, and assumed his post as ambassador on May 22, 2012.
Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
WarSclerotic 
September 15, 2012 at 8:15 PM
As long as all these protests are going on i will always think of the warning al qaeda gave a few months ago saying a 9/11 style attack will happen in the next 10 years. who knows what style means to al qaeda but these protests are being pushed by al qaeda and with the protest spreading it only adds fuel to the fire making them last longer and possibly more dangerous. Also i never liked obama but with the recent statements by his admistration im appauled by my Americas actions in its time of absolute global protest against it.
September 15, 2012 at 10:19 PM
Blogged an excerpt with a link back here for the entire post.
September 15, 2012 at 11:19 PM
Why was he the “ONLY” American brought to the hospital??? What about the others & the Libyans??? Is it true that he was “Sodomized” too, as some reports are saying, or only died of asphyxiation??? NICE JOB by the “Libyan Security Detail” to protect the most important consulate in Benghazi….WTF!!! I hope the BHO, the “Head Muslim in Charge” is happy now….jackass
September 15, 2012 at 11:30 PM
As foretold!
Israel, you are now surrounded my millions who are armed to the teeth screaming death to Israel. You were warned! Your years of retreat have shown those sworn to kill you that the once great Israel is now weak and vulnerable. They are coming to push you into the sea and are prepared to kill millions of Jews to do it. Unless you crush this evil completely it will consume Jews everywhere. Your last warning and chance for survival has arrived. It is written!