REPORT: U.S. ATTACK ON IRAN RISKS REGIONAL WAR

Iranian President Mahmoud AhmadinejadPhoto Credit:AP

U.S. military strikes on Iran would shake the regime’s political control and damage its ability to launch counterstrikes, but the Iranians probably would manage to retaliate, directly and through surrogates, in ways that risked igniting all-out war in the Middle East, according to an assessment of an attack’s costs and benefits.

The assessment said extended U.S. strikes could destroy Iran’s most important nuclear facilities and damage its military forces but would only delay — not stop — the Islamic republic‘s pursuit of a nuclear bomb.

“You can’t kill intellectual power,” said retired Army Lt. Gen. Frank Kearney, who endorsed the report. He is a former deputy director at the National Counterterrorism Center and former deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

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Report: Despite Warnings, Clinton Left Embassy Vulnerable

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton criticized as post-riot findings show chaos, poor security at Libya consulate.

A burnt house and a car are seen inside the US Embassy compound in Benghazi

AFP photo

The United States consulate in Libya where an ambassador and three others were killed was poorly guarded, according to reports in British media. The building lacked bulletproof glass, reinforced doors, and other features normally used to secure diplomatic staff.

The Benghazi consulate was not guarded by the usual contingent of U.S. Marines. Instead, protection was provided primarily by local guards, who fled when an angry mob approached. “The security people just all ran away and the people in charge were the young men with guns and bombs,” local man Ali Fetori told the Independent.

The building’s perimeter was breached within 15 minutes of the mob assault.

In addition, Ambassador Christopher Stevens was reportedly missing for several hours after the attack. U.S. State Department officials say Stevens was separated from his security team “due to the heavy, dark smoke” as rioters attacked the building. His body was seen by consulate staff only hours later, after Libyan citizens took him to a hospital.

Making matters worse is the report in the Independent that the State Department had prior warning of the violent assault. “According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and ‘lockdown,’ under which movement is severely restricted,” the report stated.

Earlier media reports revealed that one of the slain diplomats, informationmanagement officer Sean Smith, had noticed suspicious people taking pictures hours before the assault and wondered in an online forum if he and other staff would “die tonight.”

State Department officials now say that the assault in Benghazi was “clearly a planned attack.”

The Breitbart news site said Thursday night, “Why wasn’t there better protection at the consulate? Because that’s the way Secretary of State Clinton wanted it… Secretary of State Clinton is responsible for the security of our staff, consulates and embassies abroad. If the Independent’s report is correct, she has violated the most basic standard of duty. Both she and her boss, President Obama, must be held responsible.”

In the wake of the attack U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered that security be tightened at U.S. embassies worldwide. The U.S. has also launched a manhunt for the terrorists behind the Benghazi attack.

SOURCE

Tags: US State Department ,Libya ,Benghazi ,terror abroad

Thanks Obama – The Terrorists You Used To Topple Regimes In Egypt And Libya Are Now Attacking Our Embassies

Many of us tried to warn Barack Obama that using militants from al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations to overthrow governments in the Middle East would not end well.  The Obama administration has been so determined to get rid of some of these dictators in the Middle East that they have not even really stopped to think about who would be replacing them.  Our leaders assured us that those opposed to Mubarak and Gaddafi were “freedom fighters” that just wanted “liberty” and “democracy” in those countries.  Well, of course it turns out that the folks that took control of both Egypt and Libya bear no resemblance to George Washington whatsoever.  They have simply replaced one form of tyranny with an even worse form of tyranny.  Sadly, the last couple of days have been a huge wake up call for all of us.  Radical Islamic militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt and replaced the American flag with the al-Qaeda flag.  In Benghazi, Libya the U.S. consulate was attacked by a crowd equipped with guns, homemade bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.  They torched the consulate, looted it, and killed the U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. officials.  Apparently they are not as grateful for our help in “liberating” their homelands as the Obama administration thought they would be.  Unfortunately, our politicians fundamentally misunderstand what is going on in the Middle East, and this is going to continue to lead to more policy errors.

For years, our politicians told us that “al-Qaeda” was the big enemy in the “War on Terror”.

But then during the “Arab Spring” the U.S. government was openly working with “al-Qaeda” and a bunch of other similar organizations all over the Middle East to overthrow established governments.

To say that our approach to the Middle East has been “inconsistent” would be a massive understatement.

After the protesters stormed the U.S. embassy in Cairo, they made it very clear who they are aligned with.  They tore down the U.S. flag and desecrated it, and they put up a black Islamic flag in its place.

So what did the black flag have on it?  The following is how CNN described the flag….

The black flag, which hangs atop a ladder inside the compound, is adorned with white characters that read, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger,” an emblem often used in al Qaeda propaganda.

This is very reminiscent of what happened in Libya in the days after the toppling of Gaddafi.  At the time, the Daily Mail and other international media organizations posted pictures of the black al-Qaeda flag flying high and proud over the courthouse in Benghazi….

The black flag of Al Qaeda was hoisted in Libya yesterday as Nato formally ended its military campaign.

The standard fluttered from the roof of the courthouse in Benghazi, where the country’s new rulers have imposed sharia law since seizing power.

Today, the new government in Egypt is completely dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.  They hold 47 percent of the seats in parliament and the new president of Egypt belongs to the organization.

So how are they responding to this incident?

Well, they have issued a half-hearted condemnation of the attacks in English, and they have also announced that new protests against the anti-Islam film that originally sparked the violence will be held in Tahrir Square on Friday.

I’m sure that a new round of mass protests will definitely calm everyone down.

Or not.

Hopefully the U.S. embassy in Egypt will have significantly strengthened security by Friday.

In Libya, the U.S. consulate has been essentially destroyed.

You can see pictures of what the U.S. consulate in Benghazi looks like after the attack right here.

Looters took off with whatever they were able to carry.  Reporters saw some people carrying desks, chairs and even washing machines away from the consulate.

The U.S. ambassador, Chris Stevens, was killed along with three other U.S. officials.

You can see a photo of an unconscious Stevens being carried through the streets after the attack right here.

So who was responsible for the attack?

Once again, it appears to have been Islamic radicals associated with al-Qaeda.  The following is from a Reuters article about this incident….

The attack was believed to have been carried out by Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda-style Sunni Islamist group that has been active in Benghazi, a Libyan security official said. Witnesses said the mob also included tribesmen, militia and other gunmen.

Ansar al-Sharia cars arrived at the start of the protest but left once fighting started, Hamam said. “The protesters were running around the compound just looking for Americans, they just wanted to find an American so they could catch one.”

Most Americans thought that it was a good idea for the Obama administration to back “the rebels” that were fighting to overthrow Gaddafi, but perhaps more people should have been asking what those “rebels” actually stand for.

The following is what former CIA officer Bruce Riedel once said about the composition of the fighters that were attempting to overthrow Gaddafi….

“There is no question that al-Qaida’s Libyan franchise, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is a part of the opposition. It has always been Gadhafi’s biggest enemy and its stronghold is Benghazi. What is unclear is how much of the opposition is al-Qaida/Libyan Islamic Fighting Group – 2 percent or 80 percent.”

The leader of the Libyan rebel forces even admitted that some of the very same militants that were shooting at U.S. troops in Iraq were among those that were seeking to “liberate” Libya.  The following is from a 2011 article in the Telegraph….

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

You can find much more on the link between al-Qaeda and the rebel forces in Libya right here.

So we were shooting at them in Iraq but we supplied them with weapons and gave them air support in Libya?

What kind of nonsense is that?

The truth is that the U.S. government has absolutely no idea what it is doing in the Middle East.

And it looks like more trouble is ahead.

There were other anti-U.S. protests in Sudan, the Gaza Strip and Tunisia on Wednesday.

Sadly, even the top officials in our own government fail to grasp why these militants hate us.  In response to the torching of the consulate in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton asked the following question….

“Today, many Americans are asking, indeed I ask myself … How could this happen in a country we helped liberate in a city we helped save from destruction?”

And of course foreign policy has never been a point of emphasis for Barack Obama.

In fact, it has been reported that he skips more than half of his daily intelligence meetings.

So the blind are leading the blind and we continue to make mistake after mistake in the Middle East.

When will we ever learn?

SOURCE

Law enforcement confirms convicted fraudster behind anti-Muslim movie

Innocence of Muslims. (Screenshot from YouTube video/NewsPoliticsNow3)

TAGS: Movies, Conflict, Religion, Scandal, Africa,Protest, Politics, USA, Police

 

Law enforcement has confirmed that the anti-Muslim movie blamed for attacks at US diplomatic buildings around the world was made by Los Angeles filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.

The Associated Press reported early Thursday that Nakoula, 55, is responsible for the “Innocence of Muslims,” the film that was said to ridicule the prophet Muhammad and, in turn, prompt violent assaults on US land overseas, including missions in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and the US Embassy in Yemen.

Nakoula gave an interview to the AP on Wednesday and insisted that he managed logistics for the firm that produced the film, but denied any role as a director, a position that had been linked to a man using the name Sam Bacile. The AP claims to have traced the cell phone number provided to them as Bacile’s back to the same Los Angeles area home where they had earlier met with Nakoula.

Hours later on Thursday, a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed to the AP that Nakoula was in fact behind the production of the film to a degree must larger than he claimed.

During their investigation, the AP identified Nakoula as an ex-con who had been convicted of bank fraud. He described himself as a Coptic Christian and had connections with Morris Sadek, a conservative practicing member of the religion who had promoted “Innocence of Muslims,” in the days before the film is believed to have sparked outrage overseas.

On their part, LA Weekly claims to have successfully tied Nakoula to Media for Christ, a company that described itself as “established to become the light that shows Jesus Christ to all human beings” that is also listed on the permit obtained to film the flick.

Since the attacks on US diplomatic establishments this week, the cast involved in the film have condemned the movie, issuing a joint-statement saying they feel that they were taken advantage of by the producer.

“We are 100 percent not behind this film and were grossly misled about its intent and purpose,” the statement read.

A July 2011 call for work placed in Backstage magazine described the movie as a “historical Arabian Desert adventure film,” that was looking to cast for the roles of George, “a strong leader, romantic, tyrant, a killer with no remorse,” and Assad, a “bearded tribe leader” with an “Israeli accent.”

The actors who participated in the film said that they were not aware that the film mocked Muhammad and that extra lines were added and dubbed into Egyptian Arabic in post-production.

Cindy Lee Garcia, an actress in the film, tells AP, “there was never any mention of Muhammad, Muslims or anything like that in the film. I was just playing the role of a mother.”

“We were supposed to be playing a film of how life was 2,000 years ago,” she claims.

Garcia says that when she confronted the director for an explanation over the final product, he told her to clear her name and explained that he was motivated because, “I’m tired of the radical Muslims running around killing everyone.”

SOURCE

US questions Muslim Brotherhood’s Twitter inconsistency over Cairo ‘turbulence’

AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki

TRENDS:Arab world protests

TAGS: Religion, Scandal, Protest, Politics, USA,Social networks, Egypt

 

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is in an awkward position after the US Embassy in Cairo noted a stark difference in tone regarding the recent attack on the American diplomatic mission in the party’s official English and Arabic Twitter feeds.

Khairat el-Shater, the Brotherhood’s deputy head, was quoted in its official English-language Twitter account, @Ikwanweb, as saying he was “relieved none of @USembassycairo staff was hurt” in the Tuesday attack. El-Shater said in the post that he hoped US-Egyptian relations would not be rocked by the “turbulence.”

The US Embassy in Cairo was quick to respond, thanking @Ikanweb. “By the way, have you checked out your own Arabic feeds? I hope you know we read those too,” the tweet continued.

The Brotherhood shot back, “We understand you’re under a lot of stress, but it will be more helpful if you point out exactly the Arabic feed of concern.”

Recent tweets from the Brotherhood’s official Arabic Twitter feed have included messages applauding the violent demonstrations, like “Egyptians revolt for the Prophet’s victory in front of US embassy.”

Meanwhile, the group’s leaders have called on supporters across Egypt to attend a demonstration in Cairo Friday in response to an obscure American-made movie portraying Islam’s prophet, Muhammad, as a child molester.

A version of the film dubbed to Arabic was aired on Egyptian television months after the original sat largely unwatched on YouTube, causing outrage among conservative Muslims in the region and sparking protests in Egypt as well as Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen.

Egypt, which receives more than a billion dollars in aid annually from the United States, is now headed by President Mohamed Morsi, who emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood to head the Freedom and Justice Party, winning a national election after a popular revolt overthrew the government of President Hosni Mubarak last year.

US President Barack Obama said in a recent interview with Telemundo that while today’s Egypt is not exactly an ally,“we don’t consider them an enemy.”

In any case, Obama has called on his colleagues in Egypt and Libya to provide extra protection for American diplomatic stations in their countries after a US ambassador and three of his staff were killed as the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya came under attack on Tuesday.

SOURCE

Muslim Brotherhood Rising’: Jihadists Coordinating Attacks

 

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Terrorism analyst and Act for America President Brigitte Gabriel says the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Libya and the U.S. Embassy in Egypt were coordinated, and more may be coming.

“Jihadists are organizing together, and they’re communicating with one another through the Internet,” she told WND today following the murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya.

Through their websites and networks, Gabriel said, “we are seeing the Muslim Brotherhood rising all across the Middle East,” where it has had an active presence for the past 30 years.

The Associated Press reported authorities are investigating the possibility the attack today was coordinated, and they warn that the next target for violent Muslims could be the U.S. embassy in Algeria.

The AP said various jihadist groups have engaged in online chatter about ongoing protests at U.S. embassies, and an intelligence report said Algerians plan to storm the U.S. Embassy today.

The statement cited a Facebook page for a German-speaking Muslim cleric based in Tripoli who is promoting violence online.

Further, WTOP-TV in Washington reported sources saying the attacks did not “appear to be a random mob scene, but rather an opportunity that militants seized.”

The Islamic attackers used a rocket-propelled grenade, a weapon not traditionally carried by protesters, the report said.

In Cairo, mobs of angry protesters invaded the U.S. Embassy compound, and at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, attackers killed four Americans, including the ambassador.

The Cairo mob lowered U.S. flags and hoisted a black Islamic flag instead.

Reports said the crowds were angry about an anti-Muhammad film that was allegedly produced in the U.S.

However, Gabriel and former PLO operative Walid Shoebat said the protest was a pretext for an attack and the beginning of a wider political movement.

Shoebat told WND the notion that the film was the main reason for the attack is “rubbish.”

“There is nothing about that specific movie in their publicity,” he said. ‘It was about trying to suppress voices and freedom of speech.”

He said a translated advertisement that ran on Sept. 10 asked people to rally at the U.S. Embassy.

“The Salafists Nour joined the Voice of Shikma, the Voice of Wisdom. Wisam Abdul Waris called for the whole thing. The idea was to create a revolution in front of the embassy,” Shoebat said.

Shoebat bases his analysis on a translation of the statement calling for the protest.

“The Arabic sources show that this was in support of al-Qaida day, posting al-Qaida flags and some of the chanting was about reminding Americans that there are many al-Qaldas (i.e. Nour Party),” Shoebat said in the interview.

The statement is also posted on his website.

The film in question is a 2011 release called, “The Innocence of the Muslims,” made available on You Tube in early 2012.

Shoebat emphasizes that the film is merely a pretext for pushing worldwide Shariah Law.

“They want to … create havoc so that they can enforce the idea to make it illegal to insult Islam and the prophet Muhammad any time,” Shoebat said.

Gabriel agrees that the joint attacks on the embassy in Cairo and the consulate in Libya are part of a wider agenda.

“They used the movie as an excuse. Remember the Muslim Brotherhood has organized networks all over the Internet. Jihadists communicate with each other and basically they were looking for an excuse,” Gabriel said.

“The embassy has been under threat from radicals as was reported by newspapers in Egypt,” Gabriel said. “Islamic Jihad has been expressing in letters to the embassy that they wanted to burn the embassy unless the U.S. releases all of the Islamic prisoners including the Blind Sheikh,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel noted that the release of Omar Abdel Rahman, the “Blind Sheik” behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is also one of the demands of Egypt’s new president, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi asked for the release of Rahman after he was elected in June. When the jihadists saw there was no response, they attacked the embassy, Gabriel explained.

An Egyptian citizen who lives in Cairo and who asked not to be named for security reasons agrees that the attack was not spontaneous.

“It was orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the MB youth and Salafists,” the Cairo resident told WND. “There were about 1,000 protesters during the height of the protest.”

“Planning for this attack has been going on for a while,” Shoebat added.

He said an attack on an embassy on Sept. 11 was more than a coincidence.

“They chose 9/11 to basically insult America. ‘We are all al-Qaida,’ is what was chanted. The object is to force the American government to create law to stop anyone who criticizes Islam,” Shoebat said.

“They know that humiliating Americans works. That’s why they chose 9/11 to carry out this attack,” Shoebat said.

Shoebat says the Cairo embassy statement was exactly what the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist protesters wanted.

The embassy statement read:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.

Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy.

Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.

Shoebat says the impact of the statement is that the United States just promoted further attacks.

An intelligence analyst and military historian who asked to remain anonymous says that the U.S. Embassy statement had to be approved by a higher authority.

“For an embassy to release anything to the public, word has to come from high levels at the State Department, often after clearing it with the White House,” the analyst said.

Aidan Clay, Middle East analyst for the human rights group International Christian Concern, says that the situation is clear: The jihadists are gaining in power and influence.

“There’s no doubt that Islamists are becoming increasingly bolder throughout the Middle East. The rise of political Islam – the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis in Egypt, the Ennahda party in Tunisia, Islamist opposition groups in Syria – has been a main contributor,” Clay said.

“It would seem that the only groups benefiting from the newly gained freedoms after the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ have been radical Islamists who are now taking justice into their own hands,” he said.

“What’s more, these extremist mobs are often times protected by their own governments who either agree with their motives or cower to their growing influence,” Clay said.

http://www.wnd.com

Iran strike must be bigger than Afghan/Iraqi ops combined – report

US Soldiers from the 234th Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas board a plane to Afghanistan (AFP Photo/Vyacheslav Oseledko)

TAGS: Military, Nuclear, Iran, USA, Israel, Army

 

Only a US operation bigger than the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan combined can stop Iran from its alleged pursuit of a nuclear bomb, a new military report said. Such action, however, risks igniting all-out war in the Middle East.

Amid escalating rhetoric from Israel and the US over military action against Iran, more than 30 former US diplomats, retired admirals and generals have assembled a report on the consequences of military action against Tehran. The study will be released on Thursday.

The AP received an advance copy of the document, set to be released on Thursday, and reported that the analysis assessed the risks of a possible invasion of Iran, but provided no overall conclusion or recommended course of action.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Frank Kearney, who endorsed the report, claimed that it was intended to “stimulate thinking in the US about the objectives of a military attack on Iran beyond the obvious goal of hitting key components of Iran’s nuclear program.” 

The report said that a US military attack would harm the current regime’s political standing and damage its ability to launch counterattacks, but Tehran would almost certainly retaliate, “directly and through surrogates, in ways that risked igniting all-out war in the Middle East.” 

US strikes could destroy Iran’s most important nuclear facilities and damage its military forces but would only delay – not fully stop – the Islamic republic’s alleged pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

“Clearly there is some [US] ability to do destruction, which will cause some delay, but what occurs after that?” Kearney said. “You can’t kill intellectual power.”

In assessing the costs and benefits of a possible strike, the review said that Iran could be stopped only by a military invasion and occupation “more taxing than the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.”

“Given Iran’s large size and population, and the strength of Iranian nationalism, we estimate that the occupation of Iran would require a commitment of resources and personnel greater than what the US has expended over the past 10 years in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined,” the report said.

In the wake of recent anti-US protests across the Middle East, including violent clashes in Egypt and Yemen, the document also warned that such a strike “would add to a perception of the US as anti-Muslim – a perception linked to the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and hardened by Internet-based video excerpts of an anti-Muslim film that may have fueled Tuesday’s deadly attack on a US diplomatic office in Libya.”

SOURCE

Anti-US Violence Spreads Across Mideast Region

 

Anti-American violence is spreading across the Middle East, with mobs rioting at US missions in Tunisia, Sudan and Morocco.

Protester holds Islamist flag at US Consulate in Casablanca

Reuters

 

Anti-American violence is spreading across the Middle East, with mobs rioting at US missions in Tunisia, Sudan and Morocco.

Hundreds of protesters rioted outside the U.S. embassy in Tunisia on Wednesday night. Police in the capital of Tunis were forced to fire teargas canisters at the mob when some 300 rioters stormed the American embassy compound. The rioters, however, were pushed back. Up to that point, the demonstration had been relatively peaceful, with demonstrators brandishing black and white Salafi Muslim banners.

Throughout the Middle East, United States embassies have been warning American citizens to avoid crowded places, and to “remain alert at all times.” Even demonstrations that appear to be peaceful “can turn suddenly violent,” the embassyalert warned citizens living in Arab countries throughout the region.

In Morocco, considered a “moderate” Arab nation with few radical Islamist leanings, hundreds of protesters gathered in Casablanca, the nation’s largest city. Demonstrators torched American flags outside the U.S. Consulate, according to anAFP reporter, chanting anti-Obama and anti-American slogans. No violence was reported. The mostly young protesters, who reportedly gathered via a call through Internet social networks, were heavily contained by Moroccan police.

They, like protesters throughout the Middle East, used the excuse of their rage over an amateur video produced in the U.S. that had made news as an “profane insult to the Prophet Mohammed,” the founder of Islam, as the justification for the riots. Some used it as an excuse for violence.

In Libya, rage over the film’s “insult to Islam” was used as the excuse for whatappears to have been a full-scale Al Qaeda-linked terror attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the grisly murder of America’s Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three American diplomats.

The obscure video, produced by a man named Sam Bacile, allegedly a pseudonym, was released at least six months ago and had escaped notice by the Islamic world. Entitled “Innocence of Muslims,” it made news after being translated into Arabic with atrailer posted onto YouTube a few days prior to the 11th anniversary of the “9/11” Al Qaeda terror attack on America.

Angry demonstrators also protested at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan, where an embassy official who requested anonymity said, “I do believe it was a few hundred. Our compound was not breached.”

Staff at the embassy in Khartoum met with three of the protesters, who delivered written demands from a group called “Sudanese Youth.”  The official said “They were asking for an immediate apology, removal of the YouTube video,” and expressed anger at Florida-based Pastor Terry Jones, a controversial Christian cleric reported to be associated with the video. However, it has subsequently been reported that Jones has had nothing to do with the film, other than possibly promoting it.

SOURCE

Tags: Innocence of Muslims ,Terry Jones ,Sam Bacile ,Christopher Stevens ,Libya,Benghazi ,US Embassy ,US consulate ,Cairo ,Sudan ,Khartoum ,Morocco,Casablanca ,Tunis ,Tunisia ,Islamic ,Muslim extremism

Libyan PM: ‘Big Advance’ in Consulate Attack Probe

Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur says arrests made in attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur

AFP/Mahmud Turkia

A “big advance” has been made in the probe into the attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city Benghazi, Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur told AFP in an exclusive interviewThursday.

“We have made a big advance,” Abu Shagur said, in his first interviewsince his election as premier on Wednesday night.

“We have some names and some photographs. Arrests have been made and more are under way as we speak,” he added.

Abu Shagur did not elaborate on how many suspects were in custody or what groups, if any, they were connected to.

“We don’t want to categorize these people until we know all the facts,” he said.

Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharif was similarly reticent about going into details when he spoke to AFP earlier Thursday.

“The interior and justice ministries have begun their investigations and evidence gathering and some people have been arrested,” he said, declining to give any details of the number of people in custody or their backgrounds “so as not to hamper the smooth running of the investigation.”

Initial reports said Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed by a mob outside the consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday as they tried to flee an angry protest against a U.S.-produced movie deemed offensive to Islam.

But it is now believed Stevens died from smoke inhalation after becoming trapped in the compound when suspected Islamic militants fired on the building with rocket-propelled grenades and set it ablaze.

U.S. officials are investigating the possibility that the assault was a plot by Al-Qaeda affiliates or sympathizers, using the protest against the film as a cover to carry out a coordinated revenge attack on Tuesday’s anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Abu Shagur played down the Al-Qaeda line, telling AFP, “We don’t have any proof as yet of an Al-Qaeda presence as an organization in Libya,” although “some youths have been influenced by the extremist ideology of Al-Qaeda,” he said.

Abu Shagur said extremists were a tiny minority in Libya who “do not number more than 100 or 150,” whereas most young Islamists in the country were moderates.

The attack on the U.S. consulate was “a cowardly, criminal and terrorist act,” he said, adding it was “isolated, not representing a phenomenon in Libyan society and it will not have negative consequences with our allies” who backed last year’s revolution which toppled former leader Muammar Qaddafi.

The United States evacuated most of its diplomatic staff from Libya and flew them to Germany after the attack. All diplomatic missions around the world have also been ordered to review their security.

Anti-American violence spread across the Middle East, with mobs rioting at U.S. missions in Tunisia, Sudan and Morocco over the past two days.

SOURCE

Tags: Libya ,Benghazi ,Al Qaeda ,Mohammed

Update: 4 Rioters Dead, 34 Wounded at US Embassy in Yemen

Yemeni police opened fire on a crowd attempting to storm the US Embassy in Sana’a.

Protesters climb US Embassy fence in Sana’a

Reuters

 

Yemeni police Thursday shot dead four protesters and wounded 34 others when they opened fire on a crowd attempting to storm the US embassy in Sana’a to protest a film mocking Islam, a security official said.

The White House, meanwhile, said it was doing everything it could to protect its diplomats in Yemen, where witnesses reported that roads leading to embassy were closed down as the area was calm later in the evening.

“Four people were killed and 34 others were wounded in the clashes that lasted from morning until late in the evening” in the area around the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, the official said, adding that eight of them were “seriosuly injured.”

Rioters chanting “O Messenger of Allah, O Mohammed…” launched a second assault on the American compound following an attack rebuffed by security forces earlier in the day.

President Abdurabuh Mansour Hadi apologized to U.S. President Barack Obama and to the American people for the acts of “a mob” and ordered an investigation into the attack.

“Those who are behind [this attack] are a mob that are not aware of the far-reaching plots of Zionist forces, especially those that made a film insulting the prophet,” Hadi said.

Some protesters said they saw three vehicles being torched by some of the demonstrators after they breached the compound through an unguarded security gate.

After being evicted from the complex on their first attempt, protesters retreated about 100 meters (330 yards) from the gate and gathered at a checkpoint where they chanted anti-Jewish slogans.

“O Jews, Khaybar, Khaybar. The army of Mohammed will return!” they chanted, referring to a 7th century CE war in the western Arabian Peninsula in which the Muslims were said to have defeated the Jews.

They then launched a second assault on the embassy compound, prompting police to fire on the crowd, killing one and wounding five others. Earlier in the day, six policeofficers and 13 protesters were wounded in clashes during the first attempted assault on the complex.

The attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen comes as violent demonstrations entered a third day at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, where security forces have been firing tear gas cannisters to maintain control over the mobs.

Meanwhile, Americans mourned the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other American diplomats who were brutally murdered Tuesday night in a similar attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

Protesters claimed the destruction of the consulate and torching of vehicles parked at the site was ignited by rage over an amateur satirical video produced in the United States that mocked the life of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, founder of Islam, and included themes of sexuality, murder and violence.

But there is growing speculation that Al Qaeda terrorists were among the frenzied mob that carried out the murderous assault in Benghazi on Tuesday night, rather than simple demonstrators.

Moreover, there is increasing speculation that the continuing violence at other U.S. embassies around the region might signal a campaign of attacks previously promised by the international terrorist organization to mark the eleventh anniversary of its “9/11” attack on America.

Violence by hundreds of demonstrators has broken out at U.S. missions in Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen, as well as in Egypt and Libya this week, all using their rage over the film, “Innocence of Muslims” as the excuse for the riots.

The obscure film, allegedly produced by California real estate developer Sam Bacile, whose identity is becoming increasingly mysterious, as he cannot be located. The video was reportedly released at least six months ago in English, but went unnoticed until it was translated into Arabic and a trailer posted on the YouTube website a few days prior to September 11. Clips of the film were also apparently broadcast on an Egyptian television channel over the weekend. Coptic Christians have since been accused of promoting the film, as has controversial Florida-based Christian Pastor Terry Jones, who in the past burned copies of the Qur’an.

SOURCE

Tags: Egypt ,Cairo ,Yemen ,Sana’a ,US Embassy ,US consulate ,Al Qaeda,Christopher Stevens ,Libya ,Benghazi