UN ambassador points to turbulent time in Mideast

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UN ambassador points to turbulent time in MideastA Libyan investigator hands over equipment to his colleague as he leaves the U.S. Consulate, after finishing their investigation regarding the attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens on the night of Tuesday, in Benghazi, Libya, Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012. The American ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed when a mob of protesters and gunmen overwhelmed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, setting fire to it in outrage over a film that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Ambassador Chris Stevens, 52, died as he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as a crowd of hundreds attacked the consulate Tuesday evening, many of them firing machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades. (AP photo/Mohammad Hannon)(Credit: AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says those who have lost out during the transition to democracy in the Mideast are to blame for the recent mob violence against the United States.

Susan Rice says it’s a time of dramatic change in the region and that the U.S. understands that when democracy starts to take root, that may lead to turbulence in the short term.

She tells CNN’s “State of the Union” that just as people across the Mideast no longer will allow their lives “to be hijacked by a dictator, they’re not going to allow extremist mobs to hijack their future and their freedom.”

Rice says the U.S. is working closely with governments around the world to make sure that U.S. diplomats and American facilities are protected.

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