US ambassador killed in Libya attack

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US ambassador killed in Libya attack

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A picture believed to be of the U.S. Ambassador in Libya after he was killed last night.

12 September,2012 02:39 pm

The American ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three officials were killed when a mob attacked the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, the interior ministry said Wednesday.The ambassador was killed along with three other officials, said Wanis al-Sharif, the deputy minister of the interior. Stevens death in Tuesdays attack was confirmed in a tweet by Mustafa Abu Shagur, the deputy prime minister.Stevens, a career officer with the US foreign service, had been in the country for less than four months after taking up his post in the capital Tripoli in May.Fawzi Wanis, who heads the High Security Commission in Benghazi, confirmed that Stevens was at the consulate when it was attacked.The ambassador was killed when an armed mob protesting against a film deemed offensive to Islam attacked the US mission, just hours after Islamists also stormed Washingtons embassy in the Egyptian capital Cairo.Before confirmation of Stevens death, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that a State Department official had been killed in the attack on the consulate, saying: We are heartbroken by this terrible loss.