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The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced on Friday the arrest of a “key participant” in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four US government officials, including the US ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens.
Bondi said the suspect, Zubayar al-Bakoush, was taken into US custody at 3am ET on Friday. “We will prosecute this alleged terrorist to the fullest extent of the law. He’ll face charges related to murder, terrorism, arson, among others,” Bondi told reporters at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington DC.
The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, added that he needed to protect the “integrity” of the investigation and could not expand on operational details, but noted the government carried out what is known as a “foreign transfer of custody” to bring the suspect to the US.
The attack on the American government compounds was a political flashpoint of the Obama administration, triggering years of scrutiny and investigations into the government’s preparedness at the time and response to the attack on the consulate, with criticism by Republicans especially focused on Barack Obama and his then secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
A Republican-led House committee report, released in 2016, found that Clinton was ultimately not to blame, but identified government security failures, heavily criticizing then defense secretary Leon Panetta for a delay in deploying forces to respond to the attack. At the time, Democrats and critics of the investigation into the attack accused GOP lawmakers of pursuing a politically motivated examination of the tragedy, as Clinton pursued the Democratic presidential nomination.
Bondi said that a plane carrying al-Bakoush in custody had landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, just outside DC, overnight.
“We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” she said.
DC federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro said that an eight-count indictment charged al-Bakoush with crimes including the murders of Stevens and state department employee Sean Smith. It was unclear if al-Bakoush had an attorney representing him.
On the night of 11 September 2012, officials have said, at least 20 Libyan militants armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenade launchers breached the gate of the consulate compound in the northern coastal city of Benghazi and set buildings on fire.
The resulting blaze led to the deaths of Stevens and Smith. Other state department personnel escaped to a nearby US annex.
But a large group assembled for an attack on the annex, including a precision mortar barrage, which resulted in the deaths of US security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
A Libyan militant suspected of being a mastermind of the attacks, Ahmed Abu Khattala, was captured by US special forces in 2014 and was brought to Washington for prosecution.
He was convicted on terrorism-related charges, although found not guilty of murder, and is serving a prison sentence. His attorneys argued that the evidence was inconclusive and that he was singled out because of his ultra-conservative Muslim beliefs.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
