U.S. 'Troubled' by Sentences in Tunis Embassy Attack

The U.S. embassy in Tunis said Wednesday it was "deeply troubled" by the leniency of two-year suspended sentences handed out to 20 people implicated in an attack on the mission.

"We are deeply troubled by reports of suspended sentences. The verdicts do not correspond appropriately to the extent and severity of the damage and violence that took place on September 14, 2012," the embassy said in a statement.

"We maintain that a full investigation must be undertaken and those who organised the attack and remain at large should be brought to justice," it added.

Hundreds of angry Islamist protesters attacked the U.S. mission in Tunis on September 14 after an American-made film mocking their religion was published on the Internet.

Four of the assailants were killed and dozens wounded in the violence, which saw protesters storm the embassy and torch a neighboring American school.

A court in Tunis on Tuesday gave 20 people two-year suspended prison sentences for their part in the attack, according to their lawyer.

The main charges against them, however, which included premeditated attacks organised by an armed gang, carried sentences ranging from five years in jail to possible death penalties.

The trial lasted just half a day, unusual for the North African nation.

The U.S. embassy criticized the Tunisian government for failing to demonstrate its opposition to the use of violence.

"The government of Tunisia has publicly stated its opposition to those that use violence," it said.

"Through its actions, the government of Tunisia must also demonstrate that there is no tolerance for those that encourage and use violence to meet their objectives. The May 28 decision fails in this regard," it said.

Tunisia's Islamist-led government has accused the radical Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia, led by a former al-Qaida fighter in Afghanistan known as Abu Iyadh, of orchestrating the embassy attack.

Abu Iyadh, whose real name is Saif Allah Bin Hussein, has been on the run from the police since September, and none of the movement's leaders have been prosecuted for the attack.