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US captures suspected ringleader of 2012 attack in Benghazi

By Reuters - Jun 17,2014 - Last updated at Jun 17,2014

WASHINGTON — The United States said on Tuesday it had captured a suspected ringleader of the 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, a raid that killed four Americans including the US ambassador and ignited a political firestorm in Washington.

President Barack Obama said in a statement he had authorised the operation in Libya on Sunday in which US troops, working with law enforcement personnel, captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah.

"Since the deadly attacks on our facilities in Benghazi, I have made it a priority to find and bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of four brave Americans," Obama said, adding that Khatallah would "face the full weight of the American justice system".

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Khatallah was being held aboard an American ship after he was grabbed on the outskirts of Benghazi in an operation carried out by US special operations forces.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said there were no civilian casualties in the operation and all US personnel involved had safely left Libya. The Pentagon declined to discuss further details of the operation and it was not immediately clear whether there were non-civilian casualties.

 

A US official said Khatallah would be charged and prosecuted through the US court system and would not be sent to the prison for suspected Al Qaeda militants in Guantanamo, Cuba.

That decision follows past practice and is in line with President Barack Obama’s policy of bringing suspected militants caught abroad through the US justice system rather than trying them in the military tribunal system at Guantanamo Bay, a prison he is trying to close.

A criminal complaint released by the US District Court for Washington, DC, accused Khatallah of killing a person in the course of an attack on a federal facility, providing material support to terrorists and using a firearm in commission of a crime of violence.

 

Political motivations

 

After the 2012 attack, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, Republicans accused the Obama administration of playing down the role of Al Qaeda in the attack for political reasons.

They also said then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton had failed to take adequate steps to ensure the safety of American diplomatic personnel, an issue that is still resonating as Clinton considers running for US president in 2016.

The Libyan government had no immediate comment on the US announcement and it was unclear whether Washington had notified Libyan officials before carrying out the operation.

It was the second time the administration has said US special operations forces have gone into Libya to detain a militant. A US Army Delta Force team grabbed Al Qaeda suspect Nazih Al Ragye, better known as Abu Anas Al Liby, in Tripoli in October 2013 and sent him to a US navy ship for interrogation.

Liby was later charged in a US federal court in New York in connection with the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Kenya, which killed more than 200 people.

House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican, called the capture “a little bit of a bright spot in what has not been a great story to tell on the rising tide of terrorism organisations around the world”.

He said, however, that the arrest did not break Khatallah’s organisation and said there were more than a dozen “individuals of interest” that the United States needed to apprehend.

Secretary of State John Kerry said the September 11, 2012, attack was felt “acutely” by the State Department. He welcomed Khatallah’s capture, saying: “This bold action by the superb United States military is a clear reminder to anyone who dares do us harm that they will not escape with impunity.”

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