Video Related To: US: Benghazi attack 'terrorist' but likely opportunistic

The US ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed in an attack on the Benghazi consulate and a safe house refuge, stormed by Islamist gunmen blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad. Gunmen attacked and set fire to the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of last year's US-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule. Another assault was mounted on the US embassy in Cairo. US President Barack Obama branded it an "outrageous attack" and ordered increased security at US diplomatic posts worldwide. Violence also threatened to spread to other Muslim countries. By nightfall on Wednesday, 24 hours after the attacks in Egypt and Libya, police were firing teargas at angry demonstrators outside the US embassy in Tunisia. The attacks could alter US attitudes towards the wave of revolutions across the Arab world, which toppled secularist authoritarian leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, bringing Islamists to power. The violence could influence a close-fought US presidential election, in which Obama's challenger Mitt Romney has accused him of not defending US interests robustly enough. Romney issued a statement criticizing Obama's initial response; the president's campaign responded by accusing him of scoring political points at a time of national tragedy. It was not immediately clear precisely how or where California-born ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed during the assault. Stevens was a key player when <b>...</b>