Sudan rejects US bid to send special forces: official

Smoke billows from the US embassy in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. By (AFP/File)

Sudan has rejected a US request to send special forces to protect its Khartoum embassy after violent protests against an American-made video mocking Islam, the official SUNA news agency said.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti said Sudan was capable of "protecting its guests in diplomatic representations," SUNA quoted a ministry official as saying.

The United States had made the request to send special forces Friday.

US officials said Saturday that they were still monitoring the situation and that Sudan has "recommitted itself both publicly and privately to continue to protect our mission."

"We have requested additional security precautions as a result of yesterday's damage to our embassy. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely to ensure we have what we need to protect our people and facility," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

The Pentagon has indicated that it is examining the possibility of sending Marines to Sudan after deploying them in Yemen and Libya, where ambassador Chris Stevens was among four Americans killed in an attack on a US consulate on Tuesday.

The violence broke out during protests against an amateur Internet film produced on US soil that denigrates Islam and its Prophet Mohammed.

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