The late U.S. Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens

J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, was killed during an attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi late last night, reports the New York Times. Three staff members were killed alongside Stevens during the attack, which was prompted by an American-made video mocking Mohammad, Islam’s founding prophet.

In a statement this morning, President Obama called Stevens “a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States” and rejected any links between the video and the ensuing attack. “While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants,” he said, echoing a similar statement made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last night. (Clinton issued a new statement this morning; it’s here.)

In his statement, Obama also directed his administration to “provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe.”

Al Jazeera is reporting that Stevens died from smoke inhalation during the attack, and that Libyan officials are placing some of the blame for the incident on the U.S. decision not to withdraw its officials after the video came out:

Addressing a press conference, [Deputy Interior Minister] Wanis Sharif blamed loyalists of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi for the attack, while stressing that the US should have removed its personnel from the country when news of the film’s release broke.

“They are to blame simply for not withdrawing their personnel from the premises, despite the fact that there was a similar incident when [al-Qaeda second-in-command and Libyan citizen] Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed. It was necessary that they take precautions. It was their fault that they did not take the necessary precautions,” he said.

Libya’s Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur condemned the attack, calling it a “cowardly act.”

Stevens became one of the first U.S. diplomats to return to Libya in 2007 after the U.S. and Libya re-established diplomatic relations, and he was appointed to the top post after rebels overthrew the Gadhafi regime last year. The last time a U.S. ambassador was killed was in 1979 in Afghanistan.