In Libya, deadly fury took US envoys by surprise

Diplomats had long been on their guard in Benghazi, a city that was the cradle of Libya's Western-backed revolution but also home to Islamists who have attacked foreign envoys.

Yet a long night of mayhem in which the US consulate was overrun and torched, the ambassador lost and dying alone in the smoke while rescuers ran into a deadly ambush as they sought to save survivors, seemed to overwhelm US security procedures.

Accounts from Libyan and US officials, and from locals who watched what began as a protest on Tuesday against a crudely made American film that insults the Prophet Mohammad spiral into violence and a military-style assault on US troops, point to a series of unfortunate choices amid the confusion and fear.

The actions of Libyan former rebel fighters assigned to help guard the lightly fortified compound may also face scrutiny. Libyan officers suggested that sympathy for the popular anger at the slight to their religion, as well as simple fear under heavy fire, meant the guards may have done little to defend the walls.

Much remains unknown, notably the extent to which armed militants may have prepared in advance for an attack as opposed to merely profiting from the opportunity of an angry crowd spinning out of control in a country where guns are everywhere.

However, this much is clear: a crowd gathered at dusk, about 7 pm (1700 GMT), chanting slogans against the film and angry at Washington's failure to act against its promoters. At some point, shooting began, with some in the crowd thinking they were under fire from the consulate. Around 10 pm, rioters surged into the compound, bullets and grenades flew, and fires started.

Among the assailants, Libyans identified units of a heavily armed local Islamist group, Ansar al-Sharia, which sympathises with al Qaeda and derides Libya's US-backed bid for democracy.

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