The United States has moved military forces closer to Libya since the Benghazi attack so they will be ready to respond to threats against diplomatic personnel, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

"We are prepared to respond if necessary, if conditions deteriorate or if we were called upon," spokesman George Little told reporters.

"Obviously we have moved assets and personnel," he said, without offering specifics.

The US Benghazi mission came under attack on September 11, 2012, by armed insurgents who set fire to the main consular facility and then attacked a nearby CIA annex. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

The Pentagon has since faced criticism by those who said it should have been able to more quickly mobilize forces to thwart the attack.

Little said the Pentagon had stationed additional military elements -- aimed at protecting diplomats or helping evacuate them if necessary -- at the NATO base in Sigonella, on the Italian island of Sicily.

He confirmed some of the troops had come from an air base in southern Spain, where 500 marines were recently deployed along with MV-Osprey -- a troop transport plane that takes off like a helicopter, without a runway -- as well as with refueling aircraft.

On Wednesday, Washington reduced its embassy staff in Tripoli, saying the security situation had deteriorated as a result of the seizure of government buildings by former rebels.

Britain had taken similar steps after the April 23 car bombing at the French embassy, which injured two French citizens.

In recent days, several bombings targeting police in Benghazi again illustrated the growing insecurity in Libya, where authorities struggling to establish effective security forces are engaged in a standoff with armed militias.

Austria warns against arms shipments to Syrian rebels
Vienna (AFP) May 13, 2013 - Austria has warned its 26 European Union partners in a letter against providing weapons for rebel movements in the Syrian conflict, said a press report to be published Tuesday.

The foreign ministry in Vienna confirmed late Monday that a document had been handed over to the European Union in Brussels, but did not give details.

Die Presse newspaper said that Austria believes arms shipments to the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be "a violation of international law, the basic laws of the European Union" and "of the principles of the United Nations charter concerning non-intervention and the use of force".

They would also violate UN Security Council resolutions concerning Al-Qaeda, it said.

In the letter Austria warned that groups like the Al-Nusra Front, which is "close to the terror network", were acting among the rebels, Die Presse said.

Following a move by France and Britain, the Islamist group, which has become one of the most feared fighting forces in Syria's two-year-old conflict, will be subject to a global asset freeze from Tuesday.

European Union sanctions against Syria are up for renewal at the end of the month, with France and Britain pushing for a lifting of the arms embargo so the rebels can receive weapons.

Die Presse said the letter warned that a lifting of the arms embargo would also lead to an end of all sanctions which can only be extended unanimously by all 27 EU members.

Those who lift the embargo would then also be responsible for unfreezing Assad's foreign bank accounts, it said.

Finland, Sweden and Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are also opposed to lifting the embargo, while most other EU nations, including Germany and Spain, have so far failed to clarify their positions.