DUBAI, Sept 15: Al Qaeda said a deadly attack on US diplomats in Libya was in revenge for the killing of its number two, monitors reported on Saturday.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula also called for more violence against US diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa, and urged Muslims living in the West to attack American interests, SITE Intelligence Group said.

The group’s Yemen offshoot did not claim direct responsibility for  attack on the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

But it said the killing of Al Qaeda deputy leader Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi in a drone strike in June “increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mukhtar,” according to SITE.

“May the expulsion of embassies and consulates lead to the liberation of Arab lands from the American hegemony and arrogance,” it said in another statement.—AFP