UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" a deadly attack against the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of four U.S. diplomats, including the American ambassador to the North African country, as well as Libyan employees of the Consulate.

Meanwhile, other senior UN officials also strongly condemned the attack, saying that the "horrific and tragic attack" further highlighted the security challenges facing the authorities in the North African country.

"The secretary-general condemns this attack in the strongest terms," said a statement issued by Ban's spokesman. "The secretary-general extends his condolences to the United States government and to the bereaved Libyan and American families."

Stevens was killed along with three U.S. embassy staff as they rushed away from the consulate building that was stormed by al- Qaeda-linked gunmen blaming the United States for a movie they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad, reports said.

The U.S. ambassador was reportedly paying a short visit to the city when the consulate came under attack, and the extremists are said to have attacked the location in protest against the anti- Islamic movie produced by an American-Israeli real-estate developer, said the reports. The bodies of the four killed U.S. diplomats will be transferred to Tripoli, the Libyan capital, sources told Xinhua in Libya.

Stevens had served as the U.S. representative to Libya's National Transitional Council during last year's unrest that toppled former strongman Muammar Gaddafi before taking up the post as an ambassador in May.

"The United Nations rejects defamation of religion in all forms, " Ban said in the statement. "At the same time, nothing justifies the brutal violence which occurred in Benghazi yesterday."

Also on Wednesday, the Security Council issued a press statement to strongly condemn the Tuesday attack in Libya, saying that "the members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators of these acts to justice."

"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that such acts are unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed," said the statement.

"The members of the Security Council recalled the fundamental principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises, and the obligations on host governments, including under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to take all appropriate steps to protect diplomatic and consular premises against any intrusion or damage, and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of these missions or impairment of their dignity, and to prevent any attack on diplomatic agents and consular officers," the statement said.

In this context, and expressing their deep concern at these attacks, the Security Council called on all authorities to protect diplomatic and consular property and personnel, and to respect their international obligations in this regard, the statement said.

"The members of the Security Council underscored the durable commitment of the international community to support Libya's successful transition to a peaceful and prosperous democracy," the statement added.

The Security Council issued the statement shortly after its scheduled meeting on the situation in Libya, which heard a briefing from Jeffrey Feltman, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs.

"The United Nations rejects defamation of religion in all forms, but there is no justification for violence such as occurred in Benhgazi," said Feltman, a veteran U.S. diplomat who became the UN under-secretary-general last month.

"The world witnessed a sober reminder of the challenges faced not only by the Libyans, but those in the international community who are committed to support Libya's ongoing transformation," he said.

However, Feltman said that the consulate attack, the killing of security personnel in Benghazi and bombs in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and the destruction of Muslim shrines in several cities in the country "further emphasizes the security challenges facing the authorities in Libya."

For his part, Ibrahim Dabbashi, the deputy Libyan permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Wednesday council meeting that an investigation was going on and the Libyan authorities would bring those responsible for the deadly attack to justice.

"This attack is in no way serves the interests of the people or the Libyan authorities and cannot be considered as a defense of Islam," Dabbashi said. "This attack gravely damages the image of Islam."

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