Susan Rice defends Benghazi US embassy attack comments

The US Ambassador to the United Nations has defended comments she made in television interviews following an attack on the country's consulate in Benghazi, Libya in which four Americans were killed.

Appearing on Sunday chat shows five days after the attack, Susan Rice suggested that the incident was the part of wider protests over an anti-Muslim film, rather than a premeditated strike.

At the UN on Wednesday she told reporters that she had "relied solely and squarely on the information provided to [her] by the intelligence community", and that she had "made clear that the information provided was preliminary."