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US investigators finally at Embassy attack site in Libya

Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. (EPA)

BENGHAZI, Libya — A team of US investigators visited Libya’s second city Benghazi on Thursday to examine the site where Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack last month.

“An American investigative committee visited the site where the US ambassador was killed,” a defense ministry official in Benghazi told AFP, confirming that the team included FBI agents.

The dirt road which leads to the front gate of the US mission in Benghazi was sealed off in the morning by defence ministry vehicles mounted with weapons, an AFP correspondent reported.

“About 20 Americans dressed in civilian clothing came and we were asked to protect them until they leave Benghazi,” said a commander of the Libya Shield brigade, a former rebel unit under defence ministry command.

“They arrived in the early morning and worked for three hours collecting evidence,” added the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday, Libyan authorities said they had approved an FBI visit to Benghazi to investigate the deadly September 11 attack on the consulate.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed on Wednesday to answer lingering questions about the assault in a bid to counter a barrage of Republican criticism in the lead-up to the November 6 presidential election.

“There are continuing questions about what exactly happened in Benghazi on that night three weeks ago and we will not rest until we answer those questions and until we track down the terrorists who killed our people,” Clinton said.

“The men and women who serve this country as diplomats deserve no less than a full and accurate accounting, wherever that leads.”