NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States is temporarily withdrawing more staff from its embassy in Libya’s capital for security reasons, but hopes to send them back early next week, the State Department said yesterday.
“This is a temporary further drawdown of staff for security reasons. We will review our posture again early next week with the goal of restoring staff as soon as conditions allow,” a State Department official said in New York, where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending the UN General Assembly.
US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed during what Washington has called a terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi on September 11.
The senior official declined to say how many staff were being withdrawn or discuss specifics, but a statement on the website of the US Embassy in Tripoli warned of possible demonstrations in Tripoli and Benghazi today.
“The demonstrations are a continuation of those that took place in Benghazi September 21-22, 2012,” it said, referring to protests in support of democracy and against the Islamist militias that Washington blames for the assault on its consulate. The demonstrations erupted into violence.
