US embassies on high alert worldwide after death of ambassador in Libya

 
AP
13 September 2012

US embassies around the world were on high security alert today after the attack that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other State Department officers in Benghazi.

Guards and police special forces were seen carrying assault rifles outside the embassy in the Philippine capital. Embassy guards gestured to a photographer to stop taking pictures.

Officials said the heightened security will be maintained indefinitely following the attack on the consulate in Libya and angry protests in Cairo.

In Malaysia, a US Embassy official said it was not the embassy's policy to comment on its security measures. But the embassy said in an advisory on its website that "based on recent events in Cairo and Benghazi, there is the possibility of demonstrations taking place in Kuala Lumpur".

In Manila, traffic was busy as usual on a boulevard in front of the embassy's main entrance. A police pickup truck with a machine gun mounted on the back was parked under a tree, and Philippine coast guard vessels patrolled Manila Bay around the embassy.

Police patrols were also intensified in other US facilities, including the American cemetery in the Philippine capital.

American flags were lowered at half-mast at embassies and consulates around the world.

President Barack Obama has called on the presidents of Libya and Egypt and urged them to continue working with the US to ensure the safety of diplomatic personnel, the White House said.

Mr Obama thanked Libyan president Mohamed Magariaf for his condolences over the deaths in Benghazi.

The White House said the two leaders agreed to work together to bring the attackers to justice.

In a second call, Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi promised Egypt "would honour its obligation to ensure the safety of American personnel", the White House said.

Mr Obama told Mr Morsi that, while "he rejects efforts to denigrate Islam ... there is never any justification for violence against innocents".

Meanwhile Mr Obama traded tough words with Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney over the handling of foreign attacks on US diplomatic missions in the Middle East.

Mr Romney accused the Obama administration of showing weakness in the wake of the deadly attack in Libya, but the Republican was widely criticised for speaking too soon and erroneously about the events in Libya and Egypt.

Mr Obama made a sombre statement condemning the attacks and later told CBS News that the episode shows Mr Romney has "a tendency to shoot first and aim later".

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