Ahmed Abu Khattala 'in US custody in secure location outside of Libya' after operation by American special forces, officials say

The US military and the Federal Bureau of Investigation jointly captured a man indicted in connection with the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed four Americans, including the US ambassador to Libya, officials said on Tuesday.

Special operations forces and FBI personnel on Sunday apprehended Ahmed Abu Khattala, previously a symbol of impunity. His capture is the first tangible outcome of President Obama's vow to bring justice for the victims of Benghazi, which remains a subject of furious controversy among conservatives. The apprehension apparently took place inside Libya.

According to a statement from Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, Abu Khattalah is now "in US custody in a secure location outside of Libya".

Obama, in a statement shortly after the Defense Department confirmed the capture, said the US "has once again demonstrated that we will do whatever it takes to see that justice is done when people harm Americans" and credited the "painstaking efforts of our military, law enforcement and intelligence personnel."



He added that Abu Khattalah will face "the full weight of the American justice system," where he has been charged in connection with the attack in a Washington DC federal court.



Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who has accused the Obama administration of lying about Benghazi, tweeted that he was "very pleased our special forces have detained Ahmed Abu Khattala." News of the capture was first reported by the Washington Post.



Abu Khattala, believed to be in his early 40s, has publicly taunted the United States. He gave an interview to the New York Times the month after the assault on the US consulate in Benghazi, in which he mocked US and post-Gaddafi Libyan impotence while drinking a strawberry frappé on the patio of a luxury Benghazi hotel.

In the year and a half since Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in the 11 September, 2012, attack, the lack of consequences for the perpetrators, along with claims about the Obama administration's candor, have inflamed the right. Many point to Benghazi as the moment where Obama's Middle East policy jumped the rails, foreshadowing this month's rampage by a Sunni jihadist army in Iraq. Political analysts expect conservatives to use Benghazi against the expected presidential run of Hillary Clinton.



Clinton's successor at the State Department, John Kerry, who has clashed with House Republicans over Benghazi, said: "This bold action by the superb United States military is a clear reminder to anyone who dares do us harm that they will not escape with impunity.



Attorney General Eric Holder said that the US has the option of charging Abu Khattallah with additional charges beyond the three criminal counts he faces, and hinted that further arrests were possible.



"Even as we begin the process of putting Khatallah on trial and seeking his conviction before a jury, our investigation will remain ongoing as we work to identify and arrest any co-conspirators," Holder said.



The seizing of Abu Khattala called to mind the October capture in Tripoli of Abu Anas al-Liby, a suspected senior al-Qaida militant, by US forces. Liby was taken by a US navy ship to New York, where he has pleaded not guilty in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. al-Liby and another man indicted on terrorism charges, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, were interrogated aboard ship, which may be in store for Abu Khattala.

After several investigations by various congressional committees and within the State Department, House Republicans recently voted to empanel a new inquiry, led by South Carolina's Trey Gowdy.