A US diplomat hotly tipped to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has admitted releasing incorrect information after September’s attack on the American consulate in Libya. UN Ambassador Susan Rice said there had been no attempt to mislead the public, but Republicans were unconvinced.After meeting Ms Rice on Tuesday, senators said they were troubled.The envoy said her initial line that the Benghazi attack appeared to have sprung from a protest had been wrong.The 11 September assault on the US consulate triggered a major political row over who knew what and when. Days afterwards, Ms Rice, 48, said in a series of TV interviews that it seemed to have developed out of protests over an anti-Islamic film. Later intelligence reports suggested it was possibly tied to al-Qaeda affiliates. The attack left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.