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Captured Benghazi Attack Suspect Arrives in U.S. Captured Benghazi Attack Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in U.S.
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The Libyan militia leader suspected of playing a central role in the 2012 attacks in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the United States ambassador, arrived in Washington early on Saturday, officials said, formally opening one of the most complicated terrorism cases the Justice Department has mounted in recent years. WASHINGTON — A lawyer for the Libyan militia leader suspected of playing a central role in the 2012 attacks in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the United States ambassador, entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of his client Saturday.
The suspect, Ahmed Abu Khattala, was flown to Washington by helicopter shortly after sunrise from a Navy warship, the New York, where he had been held since his capture in Libya by American Special Operations forces, the officials said. The authorities fingerprinted and photographed him like any other suspect, and he was expected to appear before a magistrate judge as early as Saturday afternoon. The suspect, Ahmed Abu Khattala, was flown to Washington by helicopter shortly after sunrise from a Navy warship where he had been held since his capture two weeks ago in Libya by American Special Operations forces. Mr. Abu Khattala appeared for arraignment before a magistrate in the federal courthouse in Washington.
The Justice Department has charged Mr. Abu Khattala with three counts in connection with the attacks on the United States Mission in Benghazi and a nearby C.I.A. facility on Sept. 11, 2012. The attacks resulted in the death of the United States ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens. The counts contend that Mr. Abu Khattala killed a person in the course of an attack on a federal facility, provided material support to terrorists and used a firearm in a violent crime. The Justice Department has charged Mr. Abu Khattala with three counts in connection with the attacks on the United States Mission in Benghazi and a nearby C.I.A. facility on Sept. 11, 2012. The attacks resulted in the death of the United States ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens.
The Obama administration has been criticized for moving too slowly to apprehend suspects, with Democrats and Republicans injecting partisan statements into the debate over proper embassy security and accurate assessments of militant threats. Moving Mr. Abu Khattala to Washington to face charges was a significant step forward for the Obama administration. It had been criticized for moving too slowly to apprehend suspects, with Democrats and Republicans injecting partisan statements into the debate over proper embassy security and accurate assessments of militant threats. Some also criticized the administration’s decision to prosecute Mr. Abu Khattala in civilian court, rather than through the military tribunal system at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
About a half-dozen F.B.I. agents who had been with Mr. Abu Khattala during his interrogation aboard the ship accompanied him on the trip over the Atlantic Ocean. By midday on Saturday, he was being held under tight security at the federal courthouse in Washington, about a mile from the White House. It was expected that he would be held at a separate facility after his arraignment. Current and former senior American law enforcement officials briefed on the government’s investigation of Mr. Abu Khattala said the next phase of the case — proving the charges against him in federal court — would be particularly challenging because the attacks occurred in a country that is not friendly to the United States.
F.B.I. investigators were not able to visit the crime scenes in Benghazi to collect evidence until several weeks after the attacks because of concerns about security there. The case also relies on testimony from Libyan witnesses who will most likely have to be flown to the United States to testify and who may not hold up well to being cross-examined.
Yet law enforcement officials expressed confidence in the work. “We have plenty of evidence to convict this guy,” one senior official said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting him to the courthouse.”
The hostile environment in Libya and the difficulty of tracking down and interviewing all the witnesses were among the reasons the investigation took so long, even amid reports that Mr. Abu Khattala was meeting with reporters for drinks to discuss the attacks after they occurred.
“We were dealing with one of the most nonpermissive environments at the time, and our guys were able to put together a case,” the senior official said.
While American intelligence agencies were able to intercept electronic conversations that could help the investigation, their classified nature makes them problematic to use in a public criminal trial, according to the officials.
The case is expected to be presented mainly on eyewitness accounts and video from the scene. Hundreds of hours of video from security cameras and other sources were analyzed to produce a narrative of the time leading up to the attacks, the siege of the mission and the C.I.A. annex, and the aftermath, one of the officials said.
“The Department of Justice bats nearly 1,000 percent with these types of extraterritorial cases, but that’s because they put in so much diligence on the front end of the investigations,” said Neil H. MacBride, who was the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2009 to 2013. “You only have one shot here. You don’t go to the other side of the world to grab someone without knowing that there is a high probability of a conviction.”
The Justice Department “rarely asks the Department of Defense to grab someone,” Mr. MacBride said. “And the Department of Defense isn’t going to put its Special Operations forces on the ground without a high degree of certainty about a case.”
American commandos captured Mr. Abu Khattala in a raid on a seaside villa outside Benghazi. He was taken to the Navy warship, the amphibious transport ship New York, in the Mediterranean, where he was questioned by interrogators seeking to learn what he knew about past or planned attacks.
American officials have said Mr. Abu Khattala has been cooperative.
The warship left the Mediterranean about a week ago and will eventually return to its home port near Jacksonville, Fla. It had been sent to the Mediterranean to be part of the mission to capture Mr. Abu Khattala. The ship typically carries four Osprey aircraft and two helicopters, one of which was used for the transfer on Saturday. Its bow was forged with steel from the World Trade Center towers.
About a half-dozen F.B.I. agents who had been with Mr. Abu Khattala during his interrogation aboard the ship accompanied him on the helicopter trip to Washington. By midday on Saturday, he was being held under tight security at the federal courthouse here, about a mile from the White House.
It was expected that he would be held at a different facility after his arraignment.
Washington is an unusual place for a high-profile terrorism suspect to face charges. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, nearly all such suspects have been tried in federal courts in New York or Alexandria, Va.Washington is an unusual place for a high-profile terrorism suspect to face charges. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, nearly all such suspects have been tried in federal courts in New York or Alexandria, Va.
Building a case against Mr. Abu Khattala strong enough to hold up in an American court posed several daunting challenges to the F.B.I. and other intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Several dozen F.B.I. agents and analysts in New York and Washington, as well as other field offices, helped build it. Witnesses to the Benghazi attacks have said Mr. Abu Khattala directed the people assaulting the mission. In interviews with Western news outlets, he has given contradictory statements about his role but maintained he is innocent.
F.B.I. agents traveled to Libya and Tunisia to take statements from several hundred people who witnessed the attack on the American diplomatic mission or were familiar with militant organizations in Benghazi and eastern Libya, said a senior law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the coming prosecution.
Hundreds of hours of video from security cameras and other sources were analyzed to produce a video narrative of the time leading up to the attack, the siege of the mission and the C.I.A. annex, and the aftermath, the official said.
While American intelligence agencies were also able to intercept electronic conversations that could help the investigation, their classified nature makes them problematic to use in a public criminal trial, the official said. He said the case had been built and would be presented mainly on eyewitness accounts and video.
Several weeks passed after the attacks before American investigators were allowed to enter Benghazi and collect evidence. The case also relies on foreign witnesses who will most likely have to travel to Washington to testify and who may not stand up well to cross-examination.
Law enforcement officials said the hostile environment in Libya and the difficulty of tracking down and interviewing all the witnesses were among the reasons the investigation had taken so long, even as reports of Mr. Abu Khattala’s meeting reporters for drinks circulated widely.
“It was brutal,” the senior law enforcement official said. “We were dealing with one of the most nonpermissive environments at the time, and our guys were able to put together a case.”
The official said that prosecutors were prepared to bring witnesses from Libya to Washington to testify against Mr. Abu Khattala. “We have plenty of evidence to convict this guy,” the official said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting him to the courthouse.”
American commandos captured Mr. Abu Khattala two weeks ago in a raid on a seaside villa outside Benghazi. He was taken to the New York warship in the Mediterranean, where he was questioned by interrogators seeking to learn what he knew about past or planned attacks.
American officials have said that Mr. Abu Khattala has been cooperative.
The New York left the Mediterranean about a week ago and will eventually return to its home port near Jacksonville, Fla. It had been sent to the Mediterranean expressly to be part of the mission to capture Mr. Abu Khattala.
The ship typically carries four Osprey aircraft and two helicopters, one of which was used for the transfer on Saturday. Its bow was forged with steel from the World Trade Center towers.
Witnesses to the Benghazi attacks have said Mr. Abu Khattala directed the people who were assaulting the mission. In interviews with Western news outlets, he has provided contradictory statements about his role but maintained his innocence.