One American was killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Protesters also stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
An armed mob protesting a film they said offended Islam, attacked the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday and set fire to the building during an Egyptian protest at the US embassy.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed that a US State Department official had been killed. Another consulate employee was injured. The identity of both victims has not been released.
Earlier Tuesday, a group of hardliners waving black banners attacked the US embassy in Cairo,tore down the US flag, and raised a black flag.
The protesters were reacting to a film “Innocence of Muslims’ whose writer and director Sam Bacile, 56, has said he believes Innocence of Muslims, which reportedly cost $5 million to make, will help his native land by exposing Islam’s flaws.
Production of the movie took place during the summer of 2011, and the movie has been shown in a Hollywood theater only once.
A YouTube video upload claiming to be a trailer of the movie and a 14-minute clip from the shows an amateur cast acting out a sophomoric script. The film shows the first Muslim animal was a donkey and uses cheesy special effects. The film was translated to Arabic by someone not connected with the production of the film.
Doualia.com: Video of burning U.S. Embassy building in Banghazi.
Terry Jones, of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida, and notorious for his Qur’an-burning threat has been connected to the film in a report from the Atlantic.
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city (or capital) of the Cyrenaica region (or ex-Province), and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area (which includes the southern towns of Gimeenis and Suluq) is also a district of Libya. The port city is located on the Mediterranean Sea.
is the second largest city in Libya, the main city (or capital) of the Cyrenaica region (or ex-Province), and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council.[11] The wider metropolitan area (which includes the southern towns of Gimeenis and Suluq) is also a district of Libya. The port city is located on the Mediterranean Sea.
Benghazi was overtaken by Gaddafi opponents, who founded the National Transitional Council (NTC) days later. On the 19th of March Benghazi was the site of the turning point of the 2011 Libyan civil war, when the Libyan Army attempted to score a decisive victory against the NTC by attacking Benghazi, but the city was defended by local resistance and intervention from French Air Force authorized by UNSC Resolution 1973 to protect civilians.
In August 2012, the internationally recognized NTC transferred power just before dissolution to the General National Congress, currently recognized as the legislative authority of Libya.