Clinton Says US Taking Aggressive Steps to Protect Diplomats

Posted September 18th, 2012 at 6:10 pm (UTC-5)
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States is taking aggressive steps to protect diplomats worldwide, as protests against an anti-Islam film produced in the United States spread.

Clinton said Tuesday that officials are reviewing security at every post and adding to it when necessary.

The secretary said the State Department had no actionable intelligence that last week's attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was planned or imminent. U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other diplomats were killed. Clinton said the Libyan government is helping American investigators and that the United States will not rest until those behind the attack are found and punished.

Protests against the anti-Islam film spread to Thailand, northwest Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir Tuesday. Al-Qaida's North Africa branch threatened to attack U.S. diplomats in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Mauritania.

Also Tuesday Bangladesh blocked access to YouTube to stop people from seeing the video. Pakistan ordered its own block Monday after Google, which owns the video sharing website, refused to remove the clip. Google itself has barred access to the video in Libya, Egypt, Indonesia, and India.