China’s official news agency said on Thursday the assault that killed the US ambassador to Libya highlighted an “arrogant” Washington’s “flawed” Middle East strategy, in unusually outspoken comments.
In a strongly worded commentary Xinhua said the violent attack, which has been condemned by governments around the world including China’s, showed the need for Washington to reconsider its policies in the region.
“The United States has been pursuing hegemony in the Middle East for decades, and people in the region are fed up with the image of ‘the arrogant American’,” it said.
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US diplomatic staff were killed in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday initially blamed on a rampaging mob infuriated by an inflammatory film.
US officials have since said it was a well-planned assault by militants using the protests as a pretext.
The Xinhua commentary said the Benghazi attack and an assault on the US embassy in Cairo highlighted “America’s flawed strategy in the Middle East and the necessity for Washington to rethink its policies toward the region”.