Posted on Saturday, September 15, 2012 - 09:42 am:

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Originally, an embassy referred to an ambassador and his staff who were sent by their country to another country’s government to represent and advance the interests of their home country.

Today, an embassy is the nerve center for U.S. affairs inside another nation—the headquarters of the U.S. ambassador and his or her staff.

An embassy is always located in the capital city of a foreign nation. [Hmmmm, didn't the prez just reaffirm - in a vote that took three times to ram through (yet still didn't pass, but somehow it did? http://youtu.be/cncbOEoQbOg) - that Jerusalem is the capital of Isreal?? - FB]

U.S. embassies abroad, as well as foreign embassies in the United States, have a special status. While an embassy remains the territory of the host state, under international rules representatives of the host country may not enter an embassy without permission—even to put out a fire.

Because an embassy represents a sovereign state, any attack on an embassy is considered an attack on the country it represents.

Source: http://diplomacy.state.gov/discoverdiplomacy/diplo macy101/places/170537.htm

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Posted on Sunday, September 16, 2012 - 08:20 am:

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quote:

Consulate Attack Preplanned, Libya's President Says
By Leila Fadel, Sep 16, 2012


A Libyan military guard stands in front of one of the U.S. Consulate's burnt-out buildings in Benghazi Sept. 14 during the visit of President Mohammed el-Megarif.

Libya's president says he believes al-Qaida is behind a deadly attack in eastern Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other U.S. staffers.

In an exclusive interview with NPR in Benghazi, President Mohammed el-Megarif says foreigners infiltrated Libya over the past few months, planned the attack and used Libyans to carry it out.

Wearing the traditional long white robe of men in Libya, Megarif is visibly exhausted when we speak to him at his home in Benghazi. As he describes the ambush on the U.S. consulate that killed Stevens and three other Americans, his eyes water and he drops his head.

"Our friend and friend of all Libyans and all residents of Benghazi and we feel very, very, very," deep sadness, he says.

A steady stream of people files in and out of the soft-spoken president's home. This eastern Libyan city was the birthplace of the revolt against late dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Now it is a neglected place, with few security forces on the street and a flood of heavy weaponry.

Megarif says that over the past few months, foreigners took advantage of the security vacuum and flowed into the country from Mali and Algeria. I ask if this attack was over an anti-Muslim film that sparked violent protests across the Muslim world. He shakes his head.

"The idea that this criminal and cowardly act was a spontaneous protest that just spun out of control is completely unfounded and preposterous," he says. "We firmly believe that this was a precalculated, preplanned attack that was carried out specifically to attack the U.S. Consulate."

The attackers used the protesters outside the consulate as a cover, he says.

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