Saturday, October 18, 2014

Busted | New charges against Benghazi raid 'ringleader

Photo of Ahmed Abu Khattalah posted on the Facebook page of Libyan International Channel (LIC)
Photo of Ahmed Abu Khattalah posted on the Facebook page of Libyan International Channel

A grand jury has brought new charges against the suspected ringleader of the September 2012 raid on a US diplomatic post in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

Ahmed Abu Khattala, 43, faces 17 new charges, some of which may be punishable by death if convicted.

The new charges include four counts of killing a person in the course of an attack on a federal facility.

US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed in the attack, which became a political lightning rod.

"We will never relent in pursuing justice against those who commit heinous acts of terrorism against the United States," Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

"Those who would do harm to our citizens - no matter how far away - should understand that our nation's memory is long and our reach is far."


Ahmed Abu Khattala

• Native of Benghazi in eastern Libya
• Construction worker by trade
• Spent several years in Col Muammar Gaddafi's notorious Abu Salim prison in Tripoli
• Formed his own small militia during the anti-Gaddafi uprising
• Denies any links to al-Qaeda but has expressed admiration for it
• Also denies any role in the attack on the US embassy in 2012, but eyewitnesses report him being there
• US state department says he is a senior leader in Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia
BBC

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