By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2012 – A Marine
Corps fleet antiterrorism security team, called a “FAST team” is now on the
ground in Yemen to help with security at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Pentagon
Press Secretary George Little said today.
This is the second FAST team, consisting
of about 50 Marines, authorized by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to bolster
security at U.S. diplomatic installations in the past two days. The move comes a day after protesters
attacked the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital.
The first team was sent to Libya after
the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four State
Department employees, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher
Stevens.
The FAST platoon was dispatched, Little
told reporters here, “partly in response to events over the past two days at
our embassy in Yemen, but it’s also in part a precautionary measure.”
Protests began earlier this week in
Libya and at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo over what was reportedly an
American-produced film posted on the Internet considered insulting to the
Prophet Mohammed. Since then, there
have been reports of protests in other countries in the Middle East, including
at the U.S. embassy in Tunisia and the German Embassy in Sudan.
Travel alerts posted on the State
Department website are advising Americans to exercise caution because of
possible demonstrations elsewhere, including in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and
Jakarta, Indonesia.
About ongoing protests in Cairo at the
U.S. Embassy there, Little said “the situation hasn’t to this point
necessitated a change in security posture. Naturally, we stand ready to support
our State Department colleagues if a request for additional military support
comes through.”
In Afghanistan, protests so far have
been peaceful, he said.
“We’re gratified based on what we know
now,” Little said, “that religious leaders have appealed for nonviolent
protests … so for at the moment we have not seen outbursts of violence against
our diplomatic installations or military bases in Afghanistan.”
In Libya, he added, “we are continuing
to investigate what happened and DOD will do its part, working with our
partners across the government, to determine what happened and, if asked,
support the president’s call to deliver justice.”
He said the department is in
communication with State Department colleagues to discuss military support to
embassy and consulate security around the world, but that it is premature to
reach final conclusions about the recent violence against U.S. diplomatic posts
in Libya, Cairo and elsewhere or about who is responsible.
“I really am asking respectfully for a
little bit of patience as we work through this,” Little said. “It’s important
to get this answer absolutely correct, and that is the goal of this government
-- to make sure that when a call is made that it’s accurate and complete.”
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