Benghazi 'mastermind' in US
June 28, 2014
US officials confirmed on Saturday that Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the man believed to be responsible for the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi two years ago, had been brought to the US.
"Ahmed Abu Khatallah is in law enforcement custody," Bill Miller, spokesperson for the US attorney's office for the District of Columbia, told the Reuters news agency.
Khatallah was captured on June 15 by US special forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a move which angered Libyan officials.
"We had no prior notification. We did not expect the US to upset our political scene," Libyan Justice Minister Saleh Al-Marghani told reporters following news of the arrest roughly two weeks ago.
On September 11, 2012, a group of militants attacked the US consulate in the Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi. Four people, among them Ambassador Chris Stevens, another diplomat and two State Department security officials, were killed.
The Obama administration was criticized by Congress for misleading the US public about the cause of the killings. In the days immediately following the attack, top officials said protests over an anti-Muslim film had sparked the violent reaction. They later confirmed that it had been premeditated by an al Qaeda-backed militia.
kms/mz (AFP, Reuters)