Obama condemns Libya attack

Posted at 09/12/2012 11:31 PM

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama Wednesday condemned the attack that killed 4 Americans, including the US ambassador in Libya but vowed it would not break America's bond with the liberated nation.
In a somber statement in the White House Rose Garden, Obama paid tribute to Ambassador Chris Stevens and his colleagues, killed when an Islamist mob, angered by reports of a film deemed insulting to Islam, stormed the US consulate in Benghazi.
But he took pains to note that the assault should not be deemed as representative of Libya after the fall of Moamer Kadhafi and noted that some Libyans fought to repel the assault on the US consulate.
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack," Obama said in a statement in the White House Rose Garden.
"It is especially tragic that Chris Stevens died in Benghazi because it is a city that he helped to save," Obama said, praising the slain ambassador for building partnerships with Libya revolutionaries in a new Libya.
Obama, who reiterated his earlier warning that he had ordered stepped up security at US posts around the world, noted that many Libyans had already condemned the assault.
"The attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya.
"Libyan security personnel fought back alongside Americans. Libyans helped some of the diplomats find safety and carried Ambassador Stevens's body to the hospital where we tragically learned that he had died."
Obama noticeably did not mention another attack on the US embassy in Egypt and ignored Republican nominee Mitt Romney's fierce criticism over the US response to that attack.
Clips of the film at the center of the controversy have been posted on the Internet and private satellite channels have been showing segments.
The low-budget movie, "Innocence of Muslims," in which actors have strong American accents, portrays Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent.