Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney criticized the Obama administration in the wake of attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya on Tuesday, branding as "disgraceful" an early response to the assault in Cairo as sympathizing with the attackers.

The assaults were linked to a video being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian in the U.S. Protesters say the video posted on the Internet, a 14-minute trailer for a movie, attacks Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to replace the American flag with an Islamic banner. In the Libyan city of Benghazi, an American was shot to death as protesters burned and looted the U.S. consulate.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a statement saying, in part, that it condemns "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions." The statement, an apparent reference to the video, was posted hours before the American's death in Libya was reported.

In a statement Tuesday night, Romney said he was outraged by the attacks and the death of the American consulate worker. He added: "It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."

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