US attorney general says ‘key participant’ in 2012 Benghazi attack arrested

United States Attorney General Pam Bondi has said a “key participant” in the 2012 attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya, has been arrested.

The storming of the US diplomatic compound and nearby CIA annex left four US citizens dead, including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Bondi said Zubayr ‌al-Bakoush had been extradited to the US ‌and will face ‌murder, ⁠arson and “terrorism”-related charges.

“We have never forgotten those heroes,” Bondi said of those killed, “and we have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation.

“We will prosecute this alleged terrorist to the fullest extent of the law,” she said at a news conference.

“Let this case serve as a reminder: If you commit a crime against the American people anywhere in this world, President [Donald] Trump’s Justice Department will find you,” Bondi added.

Charged with two killings

The details of al-Bakoush’s alleged involvement in the September 11, 2012 attack were not immediately clear.

The storming of the embassy in Benghazi came amid widespread violence in Libya following the overthrow and killing of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. That followed a US-led NATO operation in the North African country that destabilised Gaddafi’s government.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters that al-Bakoush had initially been charged in 2015, but the indictment had remained sealed.

He was charged with both the murder of Stevens and another State Department employee, Sean Smith, as well as the attempted murder of a State Department special agent, Pirro said.

Two other US government personnel, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were also killed in the incident. Al-Bakoush was not charged with their killing.

Previous arrests

Another man, Ahmed Abu Khatallah, had previously been convicted in the US in connection with the attack and is currently serving a 28-year sentence after being taken into custody in 2014.

US prosecutors said Abu Khatallah led an armed group in Libya and ordered the attack. Abu Khatallah was cleared of murder charges, but convicted of four other “terrorism” related charges in the case.

Libyan national, Mustafa al-Imam, was also convicted in 2020 for his role in the attack, but was not directly charged with the killings.

The killings led to a series of US congressional investigations into security lapses surrounding the incident, particularly focusing on the role of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, in 2015, said she takes responsibility for the deaths of the US citizens, but has vehemently denied she had been made aware of requests for more security at the compound.

Stevens had travelled to Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, to speak with armed groups opposed to the government.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency had conducted a “foreign transfer of custody”, but gave few details on how, when or where al-Bakoush had been arrested.

He said only the arrest took place “overseas”.

Patel said he would not provide further information in order to “maintain not just the integrity of this investigation, but the possibility, and the promise of bringing more individuals to justice for this heinous act of terror”.

Killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

The announcement on Friday came just days after Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of former Libyan leader Gaddafi, was confirmed killed. It was not immediately clear who was behind the killing.

Gaddafi never had an official position in Libya, but was considered to be his father’s number two from 2000 until 2011.

He became an architect of his father’s crackdown on dissidents before being captured by rebels and held until 2017.

Some had seen the younger Gaddafi, who had recently made a new foray into politics, as an alternative to the country’s two seats of power.