CAIRO - Al-Qaida's branch in North Africa is calling for attacks on U.S. diplomats and an escalation of protests against an anti-Islam video that triggered a wave of demonstrations in Muslim countries.
In a statement released Tuesday, Al-Qaida in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb praised the killing of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11. The group threatened attacks in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania in response to the movie that denigrates the Prophet Muhammad.
Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula recently issued a similar call for attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities. The group is al-Qaida's most active branch in the Middle East.
