PARIS, Sept 12, 2012 (AFP)
PARIS, Sept 12, 2012 (AFP)
France on Wednesday demanded a swift reaction from the Libyan authorities to the attack on a US consulate that left an ambassador and three other American officials dead.
“France demands that the Libyan authorities shed all possible light on these odious and unacceptable crimes, identify the culprits and bring them to justice,” President Francois Hollande said.
His statement came shortly after US President Barack Obama confirmed that ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was among four Americans killed in a mob attack on a US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
France is arguably the Western power with the greatest amount of influence over Libya’s rulers, having played a leading role in the military intervention that helped them come to power by toppling dictator Moamer Kadhafi last year.
France was also the first nation to recognise the National Transitional Council (NTC) that replaced Kadhafi’s regime.
“A new administration is in place in Libya,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
“We had hoped and continued to hope that it would pacify the country but obviously you can always have extremists who behave in this way. It is absolutely unacceptable and the Libyan authorities must react,” he said.
