Exteriors of US consulate following attack which killed the US ambassador

Описание: (12 Sep 2012) US officials said some 50 Marines were being sent to Libya to reinforce security at US diplomatic facilities in the aftermath of an attack in the eastern city of Benghazi that killed the US ambassador and three American members of his staff.
The deployment came as new video emerged showing the fall out from the attack on Tuesday night by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad, according to Libya officials.
Ambassador Chris Stevens, 52, was killed when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as the building came under attack by a mob with guns and rocket propelled grenades.
Three other Americans were also killed.
Video from the scene on Wednesday showed the scorched remains of the consulate building.
Empty bullet shells litter the grounds of the compound while inside many rooms were either burnt out or covered in ransacked debris.
The deployed marines are members of an elite group known as a Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, whose role is to respond on short notice to terrorism threats and to reinforce security at US embassies.
They operate worldwide.
The officials who disclosed the plan to send the Marines spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
Stevens is the first US ambassador to be killed in an attack since 1979, when Ambassador Adolph Dubs was killed in Afghanistan.
The State Department identified one of the other Americans killed on Tuesday as Sean Smith, a foreign service information management officer.
The identities of the others were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Stevens was a career diplomat who spoke Arabic and French and had already served two tours in Libya, including running the office in Benghazi during the revolt against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
He was confirmed as ambassador to Libya by the Senate earlier this year.
US embassies in at least seven countries in the Middle East, Africa and the Caucuses are warning of possible anti-American protests following the attack on the consulate in Libya.
The embassies in Armenia, Burundi, Kuwait, Sudan, Tunisia and Zambia, along with the embassy in Egypt, which was hit by a protest on Tuesday, all issued warnings on Wednesday advising Americans to be particularly vigilant.

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