US in 'aggressive steps' to protect missions - Clinton
US: The United States is taking "aggressive steps" to protect its
embassies around the world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said
Tuesday, denying the US had been warned of an attack in Libya.
"We had no actionable intelligence that an attack on our post in
Benghazi was planned or imminent," Clinton told a press conference after
State Department talks with Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa.
"We are taking aggressive steps to protect our staffs in embassies
and consulates worldwide," Clinton said, amid a wave of anti-US protests
around the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
Washington is also "reviewing our security posture at every post and
augmenting it where necessary," she said, adding that the US was also
working with host governments "to make sure they know what our security
needs are."
A suicide bombing in Kabul on Tuesday brought the number of people
whose killings have been linked to a week-long violent backlash over a
trailer for a film mocking Islam to more than 30.
Among the dead are four diplomatic staff in Libya, including
ambassador Chris Stevens, killed when militants besieged the US mission
in Benghazi a week ago on September 11 in a four-hour sustained attack
with heavy arms. "We will not rest until the people who orchestrated
this attack are found and punished," Clinton said. The FBI has launched
an investigation inside Libya, and Clinton said the US was working with
the Libyan government, which is leading its own inquiry, "so we can be
assured that we have found who murdered our four colleagues and under
what circumstances." She said people also had to look at the events
strategically. "In a lot of places where protests have turned violent,
we are seeing the hand of extremists who trying to exploit people's
inflamed passions for their own agendas."
But she said most people in the Arab Spring nations were seeking to
build a better future.
"This is part of a larger debate that is going on inside of these
societies," she said, highlighting how moderates had won the elections
in Libya after the fall of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.
And Clinton reminded that "our diplomats engage in dangerous work,
and it's the nature of diplomacy in fragile societies and conflict zones
to be aware of the necessity for security, but also continue the
important diplomatic work that has to go on." AFP |