Tucson Mosque condemns attack
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Tucson Mosque condemns attack Video by kgun9.com
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Reporter: Cory Marshall
Web Producer: Rikki Mitchell
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Thursday morning the Islamic Center of Tucson issued a statement condemning Tuesday’s attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Libya which killed four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
In the statement the center, “condemns in the strongest terms the attacks that took place earlier today on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Our hearts go out to the families of Ambassador Chris Stevens, his colleagues and all of the victims. We believe the perpetrators carried out a despicable act that was both foolish and criminal in nature, and hope that the Libyan government brings those responsible to justice swiftly.”
Nine On Your Side sat down with retired Ambassador to Oman, David Dunford. The former Ambassador now teaches at the University of Arizona and knew Ambassador Stevens.
“We don't have very many people like that so he was the perfect guy to be in a tough job like Libya,” said Dunford.
In a post 9-11 world, Dunford says the greatest struggle as a diplomat is getting your job done amidst security issues.
“There's no excuse for the violence but certainly extremists have exploited the anger of people to try and gain influence [and] to try and gain visibility,” said Dunford.
While the Ambassador says we need to wait and see what the investigation reveals, he says those behind the video are not blameless.
“I think they knew they were going to provoke anger and the recklessly endangered not just the lives of diplomats overseas but all Americans overseas; the lives of Egyptian Christians in Egypt and maybe the lives of Muslims in this country. So, I have no sympathy for them,” said Dunford.
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