Al Qaeda praises Benghazi attack, anti-US protests die down

Al Qaeda on Saturday called on its followers to kill American diplomats across the Muslim world in light of an amateur film produced in the United States mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

Al Qaeda also described the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi - that left four US officials dead among them ambassador Christopher Stevens -  as "a great event".

But the violent anti-American protests that rocked the capitals of some 20 nations from northern Africa to southeast Asia on Friday, causing at least six deaths, largely subsided.

In Egypt security forces moved on Saturday to end the demonstrations around the American embassy in Cairo.

The Egyptian interior minister inspected the area for himself and said "our presence here is to clear the square of people who are breaking the law".

"We must preserve the square as a symbol of the revolution. That is the aim of our operation," he said adding that measures would be taken to ensure "those breaking the law" do not return.