A report released Monday by the Senate Homeland Security Committee lambasted the handling of security around the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September when a deadly attack took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

In the months leading up to the Sept. 11 attack, there was a "rising crescendo" of evidence from U.S. intelligence sources and State Department personnel that the situation was becoming dangerous and unstable, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, one of the report's authors, said in a press conference on Monday.

"The tragedy is, however, that the reaction to the flashing red indicators was woefully inadequate," said Leiberman.

The 31-page report, "Flashing Red: A Special Report On The Terrorist Attack At Benghazi," paints a picture of a vulnerable outpost in Libya’s second-largest city, where it was clear that the new post-Gadhafi government was unable to provide full protection to diplomatic staff.

Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking Republican member, said the congressional investigation found that "terrorists essentially walked right into the Benghazi compound unimpeded and set it ablaze, due to extremely poor security in a threat environment."

Collins said the State Department failed to take adequate steps to reduce the facility's vulnerability to a terrorist attack of this kind.  

"While the Department and the Intelligence Community lacked specific intelligence about this attack, the State Department should not have waited for — or expected —specific warnings before increasing its security in Benghazi, a city awash with weapons and violent extremists," she said. 

Both of the senators said the U.S. facility should have been closed, given the absence of sufficient security.

Esam Omran al-Fetori / Reuters

The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames, Sept. 11. Armed gunmen attacked the compound, clashing with Libyan security forces before the latter withdrew as they came under heavy fire.

The report noted that as the security situation deteriorated in eastern Libya in 2012, "the Department of State did not provide enough security to address the increased threats and did not adequately support field requests for additional security."

The congressional report follows a separate investigation by the State Department Accountability Review Board (ARB), which blamed State Department officials for "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies" that led to "grossly inadequate" protection for the Benghazi facility. In response at the time, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said the problems highlighted by the ARB were unacceptable, "problems for which — as Secretary (Hillary) Clinton has said — we take responsibility."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in a hospital being treated for a blood clot, the result of a concussion suffered earlier in December. Collins said she hopes that after Clinton recovers, she will carefully review the congressional report and see if there are officials that "need to be held accountable."

Collins said that she did not see the tragedy as the fault of the Pentagon, but an indication that the Defense Department has insufficient assets to mount an effective response.

Among the report's recommendations:

• U.S. intelligence agencies need to "broaden and deepen their focus in Libya, and beyond, on nascent violent Islamist extremist groups in the region that lack strong operational ties to core al Qaeda or its main affiliate groups."
• If a host nation can’t provide adequate security for a diplomatic facility, "the Department of State must provide additional security measures of its own, urgently attempt to upgrade the host nation security forces, or decide to close a U.S. Diplomatic facility and remove U.S. personnel until appropriate steps can be taken to provide adequate security."
• The State Department needs to establish a "mandatory process" to determine what security standards are applicable to temporary facilities, such as the Benghazi consulate, to ensure that they are "adequately protected."

"Flashing Red" was the final joint investigation by Collins and Leiberman, who is slated to retire on Jan. 2.

'Inconsistent' statements from the administration
As for the controversy over what the administration knew about the attack — and when — the report said officials in the State Department and the intelligence community were "inconsistent" in stating that the deaths in Benghazi were the result of a terrorist attack.

The candidacy of Ambassador Susan Rice to the post of Secretary of State was scuppered after allegations by Republican lawmakers that she misled the public about the attacks during an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on Sept. 16.

The administration said Rice, the current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, was repeating talking points provided by the intelligence community when she initially characterized the Sept. 11 assault as a spur-of-the-moment response to a crude, anti-Muslim film.

In her interview, Rice said that "what happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of — of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, which were prompted, of course, by the video."

Independent panel: 'Systematic failures' within State Department

In a letter to President Obama on Dec. 13 withdrawing her candidacy for the top diplomatic post, Rice said she wanted to avoid a "very prolonged, very politicized, very distracting and very disruptive" confirmation process.

For its part, the congressional report said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper had offered to provide the committee with a detailed timeline regarding the development of the intelligence community's talking points on Benghazi. "At the time of writing this report, despite repeated requests, the committee had yet to receive this timeline," the report notes.

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By Tracy Connor, NBC News

Embattled U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next secretary of state after months of criticism over her Benghazi comments.

“Today, I made the decision that it was the best thing for our country, for the American people that I not continue to be considered by the president for nomination of secretary of state,” Rice told NBC’s Brian Williams.

“I didn’t want to see a confirmation process that was very prolonged, very politicized, very distracting and very disruptive because there are so many things we need to get done as a country and the first several months of a second term president’s agenda is really the opportunity to get the crucial things done.”

Rice noted that President Obama’s second-term agenda included “comprehensive immigration reform, balanced deficit reduction, job creation.”

She added, “And to the extent that my nomination could have delayed or distracted or deflected or maybe even some of these priorities impossible to achieve, I didn’t want that and I much prefer to keep doing what I’m doing which is a job I love at the United Nations.”

The full interview with Rice will air on tonight’s “Rock Center With Brian Williams” at 10p/9c. Excerpts will also be broadcast on Nightly News at 6:30 pm ET.

Obama said in a statement that he accepted her decision and regretted “the unfair and misleading attacks” on Rice, who was considered a front-runner to replace Hillary Clinton as the nation’s top foreign policy official.

Criticism over remarks
Rice has been under intense fire from Republicans for initially characterizing the Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, as a spur-of-the-moment response to a crude anti-Muslim film.

“What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, which were prompted, of course, by the video,” Rice said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” five days after the attack.

“Opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding. They came with heavy weapons, which unfortunately are readily available in post-revolutionary Libya, and it escalated into a much more violent episode.”

As more details emerged suggesting it was a premeditated terrorist action, GOP critics accused Rice of misleading the public at the height of the presidential campaign.

She countered that she went with the best information available about the attack, in which Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

“I relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community. I made clear that the information was preliminary and that our investigations would give us the definitive answers,” she said on Nov. 21 at the United Nations.

By then, Obama had already expressed strong support for Rice, warning Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to stop slamming her and vowing to block her confirmation.

“They should go after me,” he said at his first press conference after his re-election.

Despite a series of closed-door meeting with Capitol Hill lawmakers to drum up support, Rice continued to face questions from senators key to her confirmation.

After a Nov. 28 sitdown with Rice, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she couldn’t yet endorse the veteran diplomat and raised a new point of concern: her role in protecting American embassies in Kenya and Nairobi that were bombed by terrorists in 1998.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) suggested Rice was seen as too much of an Obama loyalist and the GOP preferred “someone of independence.”

Attack on critics
In her resignation letter to Obama, Rice took aim at her GOP critics.

“The position of secretary of state should never be politicized,” she wrote.

“As someone who grew up in an era of comparative bipartisanship and as a sitting U.S. national security official who has served in two U.S. Administrations, I’m saddened that we have reached this point, even before you have decided whom to nominate. We cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the American people.”

Obama praised Rice as “an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant.”

“While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first.”

McCain and Graham, among Rice’s loudest critics, said they would continue to press the administration on Benghazi.

“I respect Ambassador Rice’s decision,” Graham said in a statement. “President Obama has many talented people to choose from to serve as our next secretary of state.”

The withdrawal leaves Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as a possible candidate for the job, and Republicans have said he would have a smoother run.

"I think John Kerry would be an excellent appointment and would be easily confirmed by his colleagues," Collins said last month.

Rice, 48, has been the United States’ permanent representative to the United Nations since 2009, after serving as a senior advisor to the Obama campaign, working at the Brookings Institution and holding other diplomatic and national security positions dating back to 1993.

Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus reportedly said in an interview that he did not share classified information with his biographer Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom he is said to have had an affair.

In a series of interviews with Kyra Phillips of Headline News, Petraeus also said his resignation as CIA director was not tied to his upcoming testimony on the attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans. He is due to testify Friday in closed-door Senate and House hearings, the first formal congressional inquiries into the September attack.

Petraeus’ comments, which came in a series of interviews with Phillips beginning last week, were first reported Thursday.

 "In our first conversation," Phillips said, Petraeus "had told me he had engaged in something dishonorable. He sought to do the honorable thing in response -- and that was to come forward. He was very clear that he screwed up terribly ... even felt fortunate to have a wife who is far better than he deserves."

Petraeus told Phillips he had not spoken with Broadwell since the scandal broke.

"He insisted to me that he has never passed classified information to Paula Broadwell," Phillips said. "He said this has nothing to do with Benghazi, and he wants to testify. He will testify."

Defense officials told NBC News on Thursday that earlier this week, the FBI came to Army officials with material discovered in Broadwell’s emails and asked, “Is this real and is it classified?” After Army officials determined it was indeed classified material, the FBI launched a search of Broadwell’s North Carolina home, with her consent.

The Defense officials could not reveal the nature of the classified material.

On Wednesday, an Army official told NBC News that Broadwell had lost her security clearance.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Broadwell’s security clearance and access to classified material was suspended because of an address she gave to an alumni symposium on Oct. 26 at the University of Denver, which appeared on the video-sharing site YouTube. Broadwell holds a master's degree in international study from the school.

In the address, Broadwell talked about security at the consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

"Any time that the Army has a reason to believe that an officer has mishandled classified information, there is grounds for such action," the Army official said, referencing the YouTube clip.

Broadwell, a West Point graduate and former military intelligence officer, is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, though she is not currently on active duty, according to Pentagon records obtained by NBC News.

Multiple government and law enforcement officials have told NBC News that Petraeus, a retired four-star general who is married, had an extramarital affair with Broadwell, 40. Broadwell, who also married, authored “All In,” a book about Petraeus’ leadership philosophy.

FBI investigators who looked into a series of anonymous threatening emails sent to Tampa, Fla., socialite Jill Kelley later determined they were authored by Broadwell, multiple government and law enforcement officials have told NBC News.

Petraeus will testify Friday about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi before the Senate Intelligence Committee after he briefs the House Intelligence Committee.

NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube contributed to this report.

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Updated at 4:44 p.m. ET: President Barack Obama on Wednesday spiritedly defended U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice over her response to the September attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, assailing Republican criticism of her as "outrageous."

At his first news conference since winning re-election, the president said Rice has done “exemplary work” and accused GOP critics of trying to “besmirch” her reputation.

“I don’t think there’s any debate in this country that when you have four Americans killed, that’s a problem, and we’ve got to get to the bottom of it and there needs to be accountability. We’ve got to bring those who carried it out to justice. They won’t get any debate from me on that,” Obama said sternly.

“But when they go after the U.N. ambassador, apparently because they think she’s an easy target, then they’ve got a problem with me.”

Two of Rice’s main GOP critics refused to back down.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said shortly after Obama’s news conference that he had “no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.” Sen. John McCain added: "We owe the American people and the families of the murdered Americans a full and complete explanation, which for two months the President has failed to deliver.”

Bebeto Matthews / AP file

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice speaks during a meeting on Syria in the United Nations Security Council, Aug. 30.

Rice has been mentioned as a possible successor to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has said she will not continue to serve in Obama's second term beginning in January.

Senior Republican senators vowed earlier on Wednesday to block any future promotion of Rice, questioning her initial description of the Sept. 11 violence on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi as a spontaneous outburst rather than a planned attack as unfathomable. Killed in the violence were U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American officials.

“My judgment at this time is that four Americans were killed, and the information that our U.N. ambassador conveyed was clearly false," McCain, R-Ariz., the top GOP senator on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. "There was overwhelming evidence that it was completely false. And she should have known what the situation and circumstances were and not tell the world on all Sunday morning talk shows.” 

Graham, of South Carolina, supported that stance at the same news conference, saying of Rice, "I don't trust her. And the reason I don't trust her is because I think she knew better, and if she didn't know better, she shouldn't be the voice of America.”

The two lawmakers along with Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire are pressing for a special, Watergate-style select Senate committee to investigate the Benghazi attack. They complained that separate inquiries by various Senate panels will fail to get to the bottom of the deadly incident.

Rice has been the focal point of accusations that the Obama administration misled the public about the nature of the Benghazi attack. Five days after the attack, she appeared on several news talk programs and said the attack stemmed from outrage in the Arab world over an anti-Muslim video, not an act of terrorism. The White House later corrected that claim.

Obama wouldn’t comment on whether he’d nominate Rice to replace Clinton on his Cabinet. But he said of Rice: “She has done exemplary work.”

“She made an appearance at the request of the White House in which she gave her best understanding of the intelligence (on Benghazi) that had been provided to her. If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me – and I’m happy to have that discussion with them," he said animatedly.

“But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador, who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received, and to besmirch her reputation, is outrageous.”

Shortly after the president’s remarks, Graham issued the following statement:

“Mr. President, don’t think for one minute I don’t hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi.  I think you failed as Commander in Chief before, during, and after the attack. 

We owe it to the American people and the victims of this attack to have full, fair hearings and accountability be assigned where appropriate. Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle.”

McCain said initial Obama administration statements the the Benghazi attack was triggered by a spontaneous demonstration and a hateful video “clearly did not comport with the facts on the ground.“

In a statement issued after Obama’s news conference, McCain repeated his call for a select committee to be appointed “to obtain a full and complete accounting which would be credible with the American people."

Not all Republican senators agree with the the need for a special select committee.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she did not “see the benefit” of such an approach, noting the Homeland Security Committee has governmentwide jurisdiction and “a history of producing comprehensive bipartisan reports.”

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn, said assigning the matter to a select committee at this point would be “premature.”

David Petraeus, who stepped down as CIA director last week after acknowledging an extramarital affair, has agreed to testify before Congress on the Benghazi attack. He'll go before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday and the House committee on Friday.

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday that he would like to hear from Petraeus but has yet to formally request a meeting with him.

NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell and NBC News Associate Producer Catherine Chomiak contributed to this report.

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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus speaks to members of a Senate Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 31, 2012.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he has seen no evidence that a scandal that led to the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus  harmed national security.

“I have no evidence at this point from what I’ve seen that classified information was disclosed that in  any way would have had a negative impact on our national security,” Obama said at a White House briefing.

Petraeus, a decorated four-star general who received widespread praise for the surge strategy in Iraq, resigned as CIA director on Friday, citing an extramarital affair.

Numerous federal government officials have told NBC News that the married general had a relationship with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, 40, who authored “All In,” a book about Petraeus’ leadership philosophy.

Obama brushed aside questions about whether he felt he should have been notified sooner of the investigation of Petraeus.

“Obviously, there’s an ongoing investigation. I don’t want to comment on the specifics of the investigation, Obama said, “The FBI has its own protocols in terms of how they proceed. … I have a lot of confidence in the FBI.”

The president was not informed of the FBI investigation that revealed Petraeus’ affair until Nov. 8, one day before he accepted his resignation.

FBI investigators who looked into a series of anonymous threatening emails sent to Tampa, Fla., socialite Jill Kelley later determined they were authored by Broadwell, multiple government and law enforcement officials have told NBC News.

Investigators have looked into whether Broadwell violated cyber-harassment laws or improperly possessed classified information, and Obama indicated that the investigation was “ongoing.” Law enforcement officials say they have developed no evidence indicating that Petraeus improperly provided classified information to Broadwell.

Earlier on Wednesday, NBC News confirmed from a veteran senator that Petraeus will testify Thursday about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi before the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

The Thursday hearing will be the first formal congressional inquiry into the September attack that killed U.S. Ambassador in Libya Chris Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. Petraeus is also scheduled to appear at a closed hearing of the House Intelligence Committee on Friday. 

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Republican lawmakers have criticized the administration’s evolving explanation of what triggered the Benghazi attack. Officials early on said it was a spontaneous reaction during a protest about an anti-Islamic film. Later, it was termed a planned terrorist attack.

Questions have also been raised about whether the consulate had adequate security and whether the State Department responded appropriately to requests for more protection.

Military analyst Col. Jack Jacobs (Ret.) said the sex scandal will affect the way Petraeus is questioned by Congress, because members were kept in the dark about the FBI inquiry that led to his resignation. 

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“It will be interesting to see what tenor it takes and what the senators and congressmen, assuming he gets before both houses, have to say before talking to him. As you know, these hearings have a tendency to be less a question and answer period than it is an opportunity for the members to vent their spleen or talk about what they want to, so that part will be very, very interesting,” Jacobs said.   

“In terms of extracting real information about what actually took place and what role the CIA had in what took place in Benghazi, I believe that investigation will determine that they had no role, that by the time the CIA could do anything, it was all over.” 

NBC's Michael Brunker contributed to this report.

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The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says she will seek testimony from former CIA Director David Petraeus, who resigned Friday as CIA director after acknowledging an extramarital affair, about the September attack on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.

“I have no doubt now that we will need to talk with David Petraeus and we will likely do that in closed session. But it will be done one way or another,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell on Monday.

Feinstein also she also may subpoena reports on a trip Petraeus took to Libya in the last year.

“I believe that Director Petraeus made a trip to the region shortly before this (Petraeus affair) became public,” Feinstein said on "Andrea Mitchell Reports." “We have asked to see the trip report. One person tells me he’s read it, and then we try to get it and they tell me it hasn’t been done. That’s unacceptable.” 

“It may have some very relevant information to what happened in Benghazi,” Feinstein said.

A week and a half ago, Petraeus went to Tripoli and conducted a personal inquiry into the Benghazi attack, NBC News has confirmed.

Petraeus has not commented on his trip to Benghazi last month.

Petraeus revelation began as cyber-harassment probe

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed in the Benghazi attack on Sept. 11-12.

Petraeus, a decorated four-star general who received widespread praise for the surge strategy that helped stabilize the insurgency in Iraq, resigned as CIA director on Friday, citing an extramarital affair.

Numerous federal government officials have told NBC News that the married general had a relationship with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, 40, who authored “All In,” a book about Petraeus’ education.

Feinstein said she received no advance notice of Petraeus’ resignation or the affair.

The affair came to light after an FBI investigation into harassing emails sent to a family friend of Petraeus, Jill Kelley, sources have told NBC News. The investigation traced the emails to Broadwell, who revealed the affair. Petraeus also admitted the affair.

The FBI determined that no criminal charges would be filed as a result of the investigation.

Lawmakers question timing of Petraeus resignation

But now, Feinstein has linked the Petraeus affair with another controversy within the Obama administration – the attack on the Benghazi diplomatic mission in Libya.

The Senate Intelligence committee planned to start closed-door hearings on the Benghazi attack on Thursday with further proceedings expected to follow. Petraeus had been expected to testify at the hearings before he resigned as CIA director.

Republican lawmakers and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have criticized the administration’s evolving explanation of what triggered the Benghazi attack. Officials early on said it was a spontaneous reaction during a protest about an anti-Islamic film. Later, it was termed a planned terrorist attack.

Questions have also been raised about whether the consulate had adequate security and whether the State Department responded appropriately to requests for more protection.

Feinstein also questioned Broadwell's role as Petraeus' biographer. 

“It’s a rather confused situation because  at one point she was an Army reservist doing intelligence-related work, at the same time she was doing a journalist’s work, a biography on David Petraeus,” Feinstein said. “It seems to me these two things don’t go together, it seems to me someone who becomes active military should not be writing a book.”

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U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens in an undated photo.

The outpouring of support in the wake of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens' death has prompted his family in the San Francisco Bay Area, and elsewhere, to establish a fund to support innovative "people-to-people" ideas that further peace in the Middle East.

Stevens' brother, Tom Stevens, 46, an assistant U.S. Attorney in San Francisco, told NBC Bay Area on Friday that his family has established the J. Christopher Stevens Fund to award individuals and organizations who have good ideas on how to promote tolerance and peace in the Middle East.

"We just had this overwhelming response," Tom Stevens said. "We have received emails, texts, letters, flowers, you name it. And then Chris' Facebook page, it just went worldwide. We just wanted to put all these wishes to good use and see them carried out."

Chris Stevens, 52, was killed, along with three other embassy workers on Sept. 11 in Benghazi, Libya, a country where he was the United States ambassador. The White House has deemed the killing a terrorist attack, although the specific perpetrators and motives have not clearly been spelled out.

Stevens attended the University of California at Berkeley, and UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.  Most of his family, including his mother and stepfather, live in the Oakland and the East Bay.

He was the first U.S. envoy to be killed in the line of duty since 1979.

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The fund named after Christopher Stevens is officially a partner of the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit public charity in Washington, D.C., and should soon have an advisory board of members who will determine how future donations will be spent, Tom Stevens said.

Tom Stevens encouraged anyone who wants to donate, and anyone who wants to submit an idea for a project, to contact the family on the www.rememberingchrisstevens.com homepage. At this point of its early inception, Tom Stevens said the family is considering a number of proposals, but no grants have been distributed yet.

In general, Tom Stevens said that the board is likely to grant money to established groups whose mission is to help "build bridges" between Americans and people in the Middle East — places where his older brother had worked including Libya, Tunisia, Israel, Syria and Egypt.

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Tom Stevens said projects that will be considered for funding depending on the amount of money raised will "promote religious tolerance, cultural understanding, educational youth exchanges, and other people-to-people programs."

Plans to memorialize Chris Stevens have still to be finalized.

To post a remembrance or photo, or to make a tax-deductible donation to the J. Christopher Stevens Fund, click here.  To send a private message or funding proposal idea, send an email to rememberingchrisstevens@gmail.com.

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Updated at 6:37 p.m. ET: An anti-Islam film that sparked violent protests in many countries had "nothing to do with" a deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi earlier this month, Libya's president told NBC News.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News' Ann Curry, President Mohamed Magarief discounted claims that the attack was in response to a movie produced in California and available on YouTube. He noted that the assault happened on Sept. 11 and that the video had been available for months before that.

"Reaction should have been, if it was genuine, should have been six months earlier. So it was postponed until the 11th of September," he said. "They chose this date, 11th of September to carry a certain message."

NYT: Deadly Libya attack a major blow to CIA efforts

Magarief said there were no protesters at the site before the attack, which he noted came in two assaults, first with rocket-propelled grenades on the consulate, then with mortars at a safe house.

Slideshow: Anger over film spreads throughout Muslim world

Khaled Abdullah / Reuters

Protests ignited by a controversial film that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad spread throughout Muslim world.

Launch slideshow

The attack took the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens, as well as information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

US Ambassador Chris Stevens was 'courageous,' Obama says

Magarief told Curry that based on the accuracy of the assault, he believes the attackers must have had training and experience using the weapons.

"It's a pre-planned act of terrorism," he said, adding that the anti-Islam film had "nothing to do with this attack."

Though Magarief believes the attack was the work of Islamist fundamentalists, he dismisses any notion that Libya is in danger of becoming a theocracy.

“This will never happen,“ he said. “ They don’t have the strength. They don’t have the supporters. They will remain a minority that’s isolated, that will not be accepted by us. And I’m sure Libyans will fight to the last man against seeing this happen in our land.”

'A strong friend'
Magarief said that while Libyans appeared to be behind the attack that "these Libyans do not represent the Libyan people or Libyan population in any sense of the word."

He added: "We consider the United States as a friend, not only a friend, a strong friend, who stood with us in our moment of need."

More than 40 people have been questioned in connection with the incident, the Libyan leader told Curry.

He described Stevens as a "humble and very unique human being" and a "great friend of Libya."

Backlash: Protesting Libyans storm militant compound

The Obama administration initially maintained that the attacks were directly linked to protests over the film. Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sept. 16, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said: “What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, prompted by the video.”

However, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney last week said it was "self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack."

Slain ambassador's mom: 'He was trying to do something much bigger'

Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said: “There are no words that excuse the killing of innocent” people.

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Ben Curtis / AP file

U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, pictured here in April when he was a U.S. envoy, attends meetings at the Tibesty Hotel where an African Union delegation was meeting with opposition leaders in Benghazi, Libya. His mother remembered him for his toothy grin and love of meeting people and hearing their stories.

When Chris Stevens was in high school, he would regularly chat with an Iraqi neighbor, who happened to be a State Department retiree. They discussed his job, the work, politics and even mundane neighborhood details, like gardening. Really, just about everything.

It wasn't unusual: Stevens was often out in the neighborhood. He liked to run or play tennis and enjoyed striking up conversations with strangers and learning their life stories. It was then that his neighbor nicknamed the affable teen, “ambassador.”

Perhaps the neighbor was clairvoyant. But for those who knew him, it wasn't hard to picture.

Thirty years later, Stevens, 52, died as the U.S. ambassador to Libya, a job he had been promoted to in May following a two-decade career in the U.S. Foreign Service. He, along with three other embassy workers, were killed on Sept. 11 during what the White House is now calling a terrorist attack. He was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed since 1979.

Read the original story at NBCBayArea.com

On Thursday, Stevens’ mother, Mary Commanday, 75, and his stepfather, Robert Commanday, 90, sat down with NBC Bay Area during their first on-camera interview at their Oakland home. The Commandays, who have been together 36 years, shared their memories of a diplomat the world has come to know as a man with a human touch, a toothy grin and a passion for the people he worked with in the Middle East.

“He was trying to do something much bigger. His death was about America's relationship with other countries," said Mary Commanday, a retired Marin Symphony cellist.

His parents have been touched by the outpouring of respect for a man whom many felt represented trust and democracy. The Commandays have more than 100 letters in a box at home from people wishing them well. They said that the U.S. Ambassador in Moscow held a vigil for Stevens, an old friend. Musicians in Frankfurt and Bremen, Germany held a concert in honor of him, the Commandays said.

And on the night after her son’s death, President Barack Obama called them. Mary Commanday said friends and family were over when someone called out: The president was on the phone.

“I stood up and got up from the couch,” Mary Commanday said. “I thought that was probably the right thing to do.”

She recalled hearing the president’s voice, which “sounded just like it does on TV,” and that he expressed his condolences. She can’t remember much of what else he said.

“I wasn’t in a state to talk,” she said. “But I wasn’t surprised. Chris was doing a job that was important to the president.”

It was a job that in many ways was a natural fit. 

“He was born smiling,” said Robert Commanday, a former music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. “He never stopped.”

Robert Commanday recalled Stevens’ easily striking up conversations with their late neighbor, Joe Katosh, the Iraqi neighbor who dubbed his stepson “Ambassadaor.”

“In 20 minutes, Chris would meet someone and know their whole life story,” Robert Commanday said.

Stevens was a student at Piedmont High School at the time, and was quick to embrace all people.

His mother suggested he try out for the American Foreign Service, a club that propelled him to do a Spain homestay. In Spain, he became interested in the culture clash between the Spanish and the Basques.

Stevens studied history at the University of California in Berkeley, graduating in 1982. Then two years in the Peace Corps, where he learned Berber, a North African language, followed seven years later by a law degree at UC Hastings in San Francisco. Along the way, Stevens learned Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic.

He landed at a job at the prestigious Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro law firm in San Francisco, where he worked in international trade law. The firm moved him to D.C. where, in the 1990s, he transitioned from corporate law to government work.

No one can pinpoint exactly when Stevens decided to become a foreign diplomat. But they say he took after his grandfather, Elmer Ellsworth Stevens, a beloved, congenial man in Grass Valley, Calif., encouraged by many to run for State Assembly, the Commandays said, but who declined to remain a high school civics teacher.

The Commandays learned of Stevens’ death while vacationing in Yosemite. The State Department couldn’t reach them, so their daughter, Anne, 49, a pediatric rheumatologist in Seattle, called to tell them he died. The couple took a train to come home to meet their youngest son, Tom, 47, an assistant U.S. Attorney in San Francisco. They all flew to a service held at the Air Force base in Maryland, where Stevens’ father, Jan Stevens, a retired California assistant attorney general who lives in Loomis, Calif., also attended.

While Chris Stevens had many “lady friends,” his mother said, including women in other countries whose mothers baked him casseroles, he never married or had children.

The Commandays have no anger toward the Libyan people over Stevens’ death, and they remarked at how many Muslims and Arabs have written letters voicing their sadness. The couple said that the largest number of condolence cards that have come into the State Department are from Palestinians, people that Stevens knew when he was stationed in Jerusalem working mostly in the West Bank.

One such person is “Ibrahim,” who wrote in on www.rememberingchrisstevens.com, set up by his sister and some friends. Ibrahim, who said he worked for the U.S. Consulate General, wrote that he refused to believe that his friend was gone, and that he longed to have a “social cigarette” with his pal.

The Commandays have refused to watch the “Innocence of Muslims,” an amateur trailer mocking the Prophet Muhammad, which is what some speculate may have sparked the ire of some Libyans, and now Muslims across the world.

For now, the Commandays are finding a bit of solace in the fact that despite a pocket of horrific violence, Stevens’ death has become a turning point for hope and peace. As a mother, Mary Commanday said she can’t dwell in sadness, that she must be proud of her son and his work.

“How can anyone place blame for his death?” Mary Commanday said. “These were circumstances beyond our government’s control. I am perfectly aware that there was danger. But he was a grown man, well-educated and careful. I knew he was out there doing good work. And as a mother, I had to make up my mind to be fine with it.”

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The attack that killed four Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, apparently began as a spontaneous protest against an anti-Islam film before turning violent, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday.

Rice, appearing in NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said she was citing preliminary information and that the FBI was investigating the Tuesday night attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three others.

A wave of protests and violence has swept across the Middle East and elsewhere in the Muslim world over an obscure, amateurish movie called "Innocence of Muslims" that depicts Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a pedophile. Anti-U.S. protests in 20 countries led the Pentagon to dispatch elite Marine antiterrorism teams to Libya and Yemen and to position two Navy warships off Libya's coast.

Meanwhile, the State Department ordered all nonessential U.S. government workers and their families out of Sudan and Tunisia. In Lebanon, protesters torched an American fast-food restaurant. Even as tensions appeared to ease over the weekend, al-Qaida's most active Mideast branch was calling for further attacks on U.S. embassies.

"There's no question, as we've seen in the past with things like 'The Satanic Verses,' with the cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, there have been such things that have sparked outrage and anger and this has been the proximate cause of what we've seen," Rice said.

“What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, prompted by the video,” Rice said.

More from "Meet the Press": Israeli PM tries to strike more neutral pose in U.S. election 

Protesters in Cairo had breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy and tore down the American flag.

In Benghazi, Rice told “Meet the Press” host David Gregory, “Opportunistic extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding, they came with heavy weapons, which unfortunately are readily available in post-revolutionary Libya, and it escalated into a much more violent episode.”

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There was “no actionable intelligence” that the attack in Benghazi was imminent, Rice said. The attack overwhelmed security in place at the consulate, she said.

Rice’s comments came a day after Libyan President Mohammed Magarief told NBC News that “foreigners” were involved in the planning and execution of the attack.

He expanded on the assertion Sunday, saying on CBS’ "Face the Nation" that about 50 people, not all Libyans, have been arrested in connection with the Benghazi attack, which he said was planned by al-Qaida-linked foreigners, some from Mali and Algeria.

Magarief said there was little doubt the assault was planned rather than a spontaneous reaction to the video, as came on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.

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He said the security situation in Libya remained "difficult" for Americans, as well as for Libyans. The United States wants the FBI to investigate the consulate attack, but Magarief said it may be too soon to send in investigators.

"It may be better for them to stay away for a little while until we do what we have to do ourselves," he said.

Rice told "Meet the Press" that the U.S. is working with authorities in Libya, which has received $200 million in U.S. aid since 2011, to bring to justice those responsible for the attack.

This article includes reporting by Reuters.

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Updated at 10 a.m. ET: A man purported to be a filmmaker involved with the anti-Islam video sparking violent unrest in the Middle East and North Africa was escorted by deputies from his Cerritos, Calif., home shortly after midnight Saturday morning, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

Media and law enforcement had been staking out the home at the end of a cul de sac in the Southern California city for about 48 hours when Nakoula Besseley Nakoula emerged wearing a coat, hat, scarf and glasses.

L.A. County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore confirmed to NBCLA that Nakoula, 55, was taken to the Cerritos sheriff’s station for interviewing by federal probation officers aimed at determining whether he violated the terms of his 5-year probation by uploading a video to the Internet.

"We are in an assist mode," he said.

Whitmore added that Nakoula, who has denied involvement in the film in a phone call to his Coptic Christian bishop, agreed to the interview prior to the deputies arriving at his home, that the move was "entirely voluntary" and the man was "very cooperative."

Deputies pulled up to the home around midnight, according to witnesses. The group left the home through the side gate because the front door was not working, Whitmore said. NBCLA went to the home earlier this week and saw the front door was missing a knob.

International protesters have cited the 15-minute video posted on the Internet called "The Innocence of Muslims" as a catalyst for their demonstrations in countries such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt.

Read more on NBCLosAngeles.com

They say the piece is insulting to their religion as it depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a child molester and a thug. In Islam, all images of Muhammad are prohibited, let alone negative ones.

Nakoula has told the Associated Press he was not the director on the film, but rather a logistics manager. The film's mystery producer has been said to go by the pseudonym Sam Bacile.

A telephone number said to belong to Bacile, given to Reuters by U.S.-based Coptic Christian activist Morris Sadek who said he had promoted the film, was later traced back to a person who shares the Nakoula residence. 

Nakoula reportedly requested deputies step up patrols around his home Wednesday after media descended on the area. At the time, Whitmore told reporters there had been no disturbance or crime.

Related: At least 7 reported killed in protests over anti-Islamic video
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Early reports suggested the film prompted the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that killed 14 people, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, two former Navy SEALS who were providing security for Stevens, and information management officer Sean Smith.

But U.S. officials are also probing the possibility that Wednesday’s attack was planned and timed to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A federal grand jury indictment in February 2009 charged Nakoula in an alleged bank fraud conspiracy. The indictment accused him and others of fraudulently obtaining the identities and Social Security numbers of bank customers at Wells Fargo and withdrawing $860 from bank branches in Cerritos, Artesia and Norwalk.

Nakoula pleaded no contest in 2010 and was ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to 21 months in federal prison, but was released early. The terms of his parole included being barred from assuming aliases and using computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer. 

Many records in the case remain sealed, but prosecutors sought a longer prison term and noted that he misused some of his own relatives' identities to open 600 fraudulent credit accounts.

Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons confirmed that Nakoula also served a year in jail after pleading guilty to possession of meth with the intent to manufacture in 1997.

U.S. officials have said authorities were not investigating the film project itself, and that even if it was inflammatory or led to violence, simply producing it cannot be considered a crime in the United States, which has strong free speech laws. 

It could be difficult to establish a probation violation case against Nakoula. In the federal court system, the conditions of supervised release are geared toward the offense for which a defendant was found guilty and imprisoned.

In Nakoula's case, the offense was bank fraud. His no contest plea was to charges of setting up fraudulent bank accounts using stolen identities and Social Security numbers, depositing checks from those accounts into other phony accounts and then withdrawing the illicit funds from ATM machines.

While it was unclear what might have provoked authorities' interest, the filmmaker's use of a false identity and his access to the Internet through computers could be at issue, according to experts in cyber law and the federal probation system. Nakoula, who told the AP that he was logistics manager for the film, was under requirements to provide authorities with records of all his bank and business accounts. 

There are indications that "Innocence of Muslims" may have already been under way as a film project when Nakoula was arrested. A casting call for actors and crew for a film called "Desert Warrior" ran in Backstage magazine, based in Los Angeles and New York, in May and June 2009. The casting call described the film project as a "historical Arabian Desert adventure" and listed a "Sam Bassiel" as producer.

One notice identified "Pharaoh Voice Inc."as the film's production company. California state records show Pharaoh Voice was incorporated in September 2007 by a "Youssef M. Basseley." The principal address for Pharaoh Voice in Hawaiian Gardens, a southern California community, is the same location where Nakoula lived until 2008, according to state records.

During an interview with AP, Nakoula denied that he was Sam Bacile, but acknowledged knowing him. 

Stan Goldman, a Loyola Law School professor, said whether Nakoula is sent back to jail over potential probation violations linked to the film, such as accessing the Internet, was a subjective decision up to an individual judge.

"Federal judges are gods in their own courtrooms, it varies so much in who they are," he said, noting such a move would be based on his conduct not on the content of the film. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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