Azernews.Az

By Araz Said, AzerNews Staff Writer

The U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan has declined to comment on the issues related to security of the diplomatic mission in Baku.

"We do not comment on safety issues," the embassy told Trend news agency on Thursday.

The attack on U.S. consulate in Libya on Tuesday, September 11, in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three embassy employees were killed, has brought into question the safety of U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.

Sam Bacile, who supposedly is the director of the movie "Innocence of Muslims" that reportedly caused the attack on the consulate, told The Associated Press over the phone that he blames not himself, but the security level at the U.S. consulate.

According to media reports, the U.S. embassies in a number of countries have been warned about potential anti-American protests that may follow after the attacks on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya and the embassy in Cairo.

At least seven countries in the Middle East, Africa and the Caucasus have been included in the list of countries in which the embassies were warned.

Among them are Armenia, Burundi, Kuwait, Sudan, Tunisia and Zambia.

No information about a possible threat to U.S citizens has been posted on the website of the U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan.

Reportedly, the attack seems to be triggered by the U.S.-made movie that insulted Muslims and Prophet Mohammad.

A Libyan official said Amb. Christopher Stevens was being driven from the consulate building to a safer location when gunmen opened fire.

"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets at them," the official in Benghazi told Reuters.

Ziad Abu Zaid, the duty doctor in the emergency room at Benghazi Medical Centre, on Tuesday said he had treated Stevens.

"He came in a state of cardiac arrest. I performed CPR for 45 minutes, but he died of asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation."

Commenting on the tragic event, US President Barack Obama described the attack as "outrageous and shocking", but insisted that it would not threaten relations with Libya's new government. "... And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people," Obama said.