Obama vows to 'stand fast' as anti-US violence spreads

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to "stand fast" against spreading anti-United States (US) violence raging in the Arab world, as he mourned four Americans slain in Libya after their remains were flown home.

Four transfer caskets draped in American flags were slowly borne from the belly of a giant C-17 transport plane by slow-walking Marines in dress uniforms, and set down in a hangar for a heart-rending homecoming.

US ambassador Chris Stevens and the three other Americans died on Tuesday when a mob furious over an anti-Muslim film made on US soil torched the American consulate in Benghazi, part of a region-wide eruption of violence.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," Mr Obama said, quoting the Bible as he honored four "American patriots" who he said embodied national qualities of courage, hope and idealism.

President Barack Obama pauses near the podium during the Transfer of Remains Ceremony, Friday, Sept 14, 2012, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., marking the return to the United States of the remains of the four Americans killed this week in Benghazi, Libya. President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to "stand fast" against spreading anti-United States (US) violence raging in the Arab world, as he mourned four Americans slain in Libya after their remains were flown home. -- PHOTO AP