U.S. official says Benghazi consulate was "terrorist attack"

A "terrorist attack" ... that's what a top U.S. counterterrorism official called the assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last week that left four Americans dead.

Rocket-propelled grenades and mortars struck the consulate on Sept. 11th -- killing U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Matthew Olsen.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MATTHEW OLSEN, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER, SAYING:

"Certainly on that particular question I would say, yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy."

He said there could have been an al Qaeda connection to the attack.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) MATTHEW OLSEN, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER, SAYING:

"We are looking at indications that individuals involved in the attack may have had connections to al Qaeda or al Qaeda's affiliates, in particular Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb."

The attack coincided with a wave of anti-american protests throughout the Muslim world -- stemming from a U.S.-made film mocking the prophet Mohammed.