UN Chief, Security Council strongly condemn Benghazi attack

United Nations: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the 15-nation Security Council issued strong condemnations of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, asserting that there is no justification for such "brutal" violence and underlined the need to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Ban said he is "deeply saddened" by the attack against the US Consulate that resulted in the deaths of four American diplomats, including Ambassador John Christopher Stevens, as well as Libyan employees of the consulate.

"The Secretary-General condemns this attack in the strongest terms," a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The UN "rejects defamation of religion in all forms. At the same time, nothing justifies the brutal violence which occurred in Benghazi yesterday," Ban said.

The UN Security Council, which earlier in the day heard a pre-scheduled briefing on the situation in Libya from Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, issued a press statement condemning in the strongest term the "heinous" attacks in Benghazi and the US Embassy in Cairo on September 11.

"The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators of these acts to justice (and) reaffirmed that such acts are unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed," the statement said.

Later briefing reporters here, Security Council President, Germany's Ambassador to the UN Peter Wittig said the Council did not discuss the "exact circumstances" that led to the attacks in Benghazi and Cairo.