WASHINGTON: An alleged participant in the deadly 2012 attack on the US compound in Benghazi, Libya, has been taken into custody to face prosecution for the rampage that killed four Americans and emerged as a divisive political issue, the Justice Department said Friday.
Zubayar Al-Bakoush, identified by officials as a member of an extremist militia in Libya, had been wanted by the United States for more than a decade. He is accused in a newly unsealed indictment of joining a mob that crashed the front gates of the diplomatic mission with assault rifles and explosives, setting off hours of violence that also included deadly fires.
Al-Bakoush arrived early Friday at an airfield in Virginia after what FBI Director Kash Patel described as a “transfer of custody” and will face charges in Washington, including murder, attempted murder, arson and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
Al-Bakoush, 58, appeared Friday afternoon in federal court in Washington, wearing a gray hoodie and using a wheelchair. He did not enter a plea and answered routine questions from a federal magistrate through an interpreter who appeared remotely. He was ordered detained until a hearing tentatively set for next week.
“I have complete trust in the court and the jury,” Al-Bakoush said through the interpreter. He added that he has “complete confidence” there will be justice in his case.
The arrest represents the latest effort by the Justice Department as an institution to hold to account the militants believed responsible for the killings of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Another Libyan militant alleged to be a leader of the attack was captured by US special forces more than a decade ago and later convicted and sentenced to prison, and a third accused participant is also imprisoned.
“We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said as she announced the arrest at a news conference with Patel and US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor in Washington whose office will be handling the case.
The attack almost immediately became a political flashpoint in Washington as Republicans challenged President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on security at the facility, the military response to the violence and the Democratic administration’s changing narrative about who was responsible and why.
A final report by a Republican-led congressional panel faulted the Obama administration for security deficiencies at the Libyan outpost and a slow response to the attack. The report, however, found no wrongdoing by Clinton. Clinton at the time dismissed the report as an echo of previous probes with no new discoveries, saying it was “time to move on.” Other Democrats denounced the Republicans’ report as “a conspiracy theory on steroids.”
On the night of Sept. 11, 2012, US officials have said, more than 20 militants armed with AK-47s and grenade launchers breached the gate of the consulate compound in Benghazi and set buildings on fire. The fire led to the deaths of Stevens, the ambassador, and State Department employee Sean Smith.
Other State Department personnel escaped to a nearby US facility known as the annex. That area came under attack from gunfire and a precision mortar barrage, resulting in the deaths of security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
The indictment accuses Al-Bakoush of being part of the armed group that traveled to the mission. It also says he conducted surveillance and attempted to break into cars of diplomatic mission staff.
The case will be the latest US prosecution to focus attention on the Benghazi attacks.
Ahmed Abu Khattala, who was captured in Libya in 2014, was convicted in a jury trial and sentenced to more than two decades in prison. His attorneys argued that the evidence was inconclusive and that he was singled out because of his ultra-conservative Muslim beliefs.
Another Libyan national, Mustafa Al-Imam, was captured in 2017 and convicted two years later for his role. His attorneys argued that he had been suffering from mental trauma and seasickness when he agreed to speak with American officials aboard a US Navy vessel days after his abduction.
“The Benghazi saga was a painful one for Americans,” Pirro said Friday. “It has stayed with all of us. And let me be very clear: There are more of them out there. Time will not stop us from going after these predators no matter how long it takes in order to fulfill our obligation to those families who suffered horrific pain at the hands of these violent terrorists.”