The murder of U.S. Envoy Christopher Stevens in Benghazi, Libya, highlights the deteriorating political situation in the North African country since the fall of Moammar Qaddafi.
U.S. officials believe Stevens, a career diplomat who worked with the Libyan resistance before Qaddafi's overthrow, was killed by al-Qaeda affiliated insurgents who used the protest over an anti-Islamic film as cover for their assault on the U.S. Consulate compound.
Tuesday's attack was just one of a series of assaults on foreign facilities in Libya. According to Dr. Karim Mezran, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, pro-Qaddafi holdouts and violent insurgents are taking advantage of political instability to threaten Libya's slowly emerging democracy.
Dr. Mezran discussed his recently published "Issue Brief" on the security situation in Libya at the Atlantic Council today.
Following his presentation, a panel offer comments. Participants included Libyan Emergency Taskforce Director Dr. Esam Omeish.
Johns Hopkins University Professor William Zartman moderated the discussion.