Al Qaeda calls death of US envoy a 'gift'

Washington: The al Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa Tuesday urged Muslims in the region to kill US government representatives and called the death of ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens a "gift", CNN reported.

"We encourage all Muslims to continue to demonstrate and escalate their protests... and to kill their ambassadors and representatives or to expel them to cleanse our land from their wickedness," said a statement from the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The group said the killing of Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, was "the best gift you give to his arrogant and unjust administration".

The outfit said the envoy's death was a fallout from a low-budget, amateurish 14-minute clip posted on YouTube that allegedly insults Islam.

The video prompted angry rioters to breach the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, killing Stevens and three other Americans.

Washington has made it clear it did not sanction the film.