Ambassador Stevens Said He Was on al-Qaida Hit List

The U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed in a terrorist attack on the consulate said he was on al-Qaida’s hit list and had been worried about al-Qaida’s stepped-up presence in Libya and security issues in Benghazi, CNN reported.

Chris Stevens was killed on Sept. 11 alongside three other Americans, when the consulate was attacked. At a Senate Homeland Security Committee Hearing on Wednesday, National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olson called the consulate attack an act of terrorism, CNN reported. The White House has said Stevens was killed by random protesters.

"I would say yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy," Olsen said Wednesday at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, CNN reported.

Stevens said that his name was on an al-Qaida hit list, according to CNN, and talked about a rise in Islamic extremism and al-Qaida's growing presence in Libya.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to travel to the Hill on Thursday to give a briefing on the attacks, CNN reported.