(Corrects spelling of names)
WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The United States and Libya
agreed to cooperate closely in investigating the deadly attack
on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in which the ambassador to the
North African state and three other Americans died.
The countries' presidents, Barack Obama and Mohammed
Magarief, spoke on Wednesday evening and "agreed to work closely
over the course of this investigation," the White House said.
On the 11th anniversary the 9/11 attacks, protests over a
U.S. film featuring the P rophet Mohamma d t urned deadly in
Libya's second city, in what U.S. government officials may have
been pre-planned assaults.
U.S. official told Reuters that the U.S. military is moving
two destroyers toward the Libyan coast, giving the Obama
administration flexibility for any future action against Libyan
targets.
The military also is dispatching a Marine Corps
anti-terrorist security team to boost security in Libya, and
Washington has ordered the evacuation of all U.S. personnel from
Benghazi to Tripoli.
Obama also called Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi about the
protests in that country and said Egypt "must cooperate with the
United States in securing U.S. diplomatic facilities and
personnel," the White House said.
Security forces in Cairo fired teargas late on Wednesday to
disperse stone-throwing demonstrators near the U.S. embassy,
after protesters scaled the walls and tore down the flag over a
film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.
"The president said that he rejects efforts to denigrate
Islam, but underscored that there is never any justification for
violence against innocents and acts that endanger American
personnel and facilities," it also said.
The violence spurred by anti-U.S. sentiment in Benghazi and
Cairo threatened to spread to other countries in the region.
Police fired teargas at angry demonstrators outside the U.S.
embassy in Tunisia and several hundred people gathered in front
of the U.S. embassy in Sudan. In Morocco, a few dozen protesters
burned American flags and chanted slogans near the U.S.
consulate in Casablanca.
(Reporting By Lisa Lambert; Editing by John Stonestreet)
