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(Washington) A key participant in the deadly 2012 attack on the US compound in Benghazi, Libya, which cost the lives of four Americans, has been arrested and will be prosecuted for the killings, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday.
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During a press conference, Mr.me Bondi said Zubayr Al-Bakoush landed at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, at 3 a.m. Friday.
“We have never stopped demanding justice for this crime committed against our nation,” she said.
Prosecutor Jeanine Pirro said an eight-count indictment targets Mr. Al-Bakoush for the murders of Ambassador Chris Stevens and State Department employee Sean Smith. It is unclear whether Mr. Al-Bakoush is represented by a lawyer.
The 2012 attack on the US compound immediately sparked sharp political divisions, with Republicans criticizing Democratic President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the site’s security, the military response to the violence and the administration’s shifting accounts of responsibility and motivations for the attack.
A final report from a Republican-majority commission blamed the Obama administration for security lapses at the Libyan diplomatic post and its slow response. The report, however, did not conclude that there was any fault on the part of M.me Clinton.
Hillary Clinton dismissed the report as a simple repeat of previous investigations with no new evidence, and said it was “time to move on.” Other Democrats denounced the Republicans’ report as a “crazy conspiracy theory.”
On the night of September 11, 2012, according to American authorities, at least 20 militants armed with AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers broke through the gate of the consular complex and set fire to buildings.
The fire led to the death of Messrs. Stevens and Smith. Other State Department personnel fled to a nearby U.S. building, known as the annex.
A large group has gathered to attack the annex. This attack, which included precision mortar fire, cost the lives of security guards Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
A Libyan activist suspected of masterminding the attacks, Ahmed Abu Khattala, was captured by US special forces in 2014 and extradited to Washington to stand trial. He was convicted and is currently serving a prison sentence. His lawyers argued that the evidence was insufficient and that he was targeted because of his ultraconservative Muslim beliefs.
