14 January 2018 :

Benghazi 'on scene commander' found guilty on terrorism charges. The defendant, Ahmed Abu Khattala, 46, was the first person charged and prosecuted in the attacks. The trial in federal court in Washington (United States District Court for the District of Columbia) began on Oct. 2 and lasted 7 weeks. Abu Khattalah was convicted on 4 terrorism-related counts, but the jury found Khattalah not guilty on the four murder charges relating to the attack. He faces life in prison. The mixed verdict showed the difficulty of prosecuting terrorism cases when the evidence is not clear-cut. The outcome was reminiscent of the 2010 federal trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian man and former Guantánamo Bay detainee who was charged in federal court as a conspirator in the Aug. 7, 1998 bombings of two American embassies in East Africa that killed over 200 people. Mr. Ghailani was acquitted of most of the charges, including each murder count for those who died, but he was still sentenced to life in prison for a conviction on one count of conspiracy. On the night of the attacks, armed men overran the diplomatic compound and set fire to it. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and another State Department employee, Sean Smith, were killed. Hours later, militants attacked the nearby C.I.A. base with mortars and small-arms fire. Two C.I.A. security contractors, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty, were killed, and others were wounded. Prosecutors acknowledged that no evidence existed that Mr. Khattala had personally fired any shots or set any buildings ablaze, but argued that he had nevertheless helped orchestrate the attacks and aided them while they were underway. To make that case, they drew primarily on testimony from three Libyan witnesses and on a database said to be Mr. Khattala’s cellphone records. Kattalah was convicted of: Conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists. Providing material support and resources to terrorists. Using, carrying and discharging a semi-automatic assault rifle during a crime of violence. Maliciously destroying and injuring dwellings and property, and placing lives in jeopardy within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and attempting to do the same. The government announced last year that it would seek life in prison for Kattalah and not the death penalty in the case. The defense insisted Kattalah was just an innocent bystander. But video of the attack clearly shows him directing some of the attackers. Not mentioned during the trial was the reason for the attack given by the Obama administration - that people were demonstrating in front of the annex because of an anti-Muslim video on YouTube. Testimony from surviving Americans and from Libyan eyewitnesses tells a much different story; that the attack was planned and carried out because Kattalah believed that the annex was a "nest of spies." The American eyewitnesses knew very well it was a coordinated terrorist attack. Despite this, the President Obama - in the midst of his re-election campaign - lied to the American people about the attack to cover up the inadequate security at the annex. Abu Khattala commanded a small militia during the 2011 uprising against Qaddafi. He is said to have participated in the September 11, 2012 attack on the American diplomatic mission at Benghazi, in which Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed. In a December 2013 article about the attack, the New York Times described him as a central figure in the attack according to Libyan witnesses, although he had no known affiliations with terrorist groups. Abu Khattala denies killing the Americans or being part of the attack. On the weekend of June 14–15, 2014, U.S. Delta Force special operations personnel captured him in a covert mission in Libya. Abu Khattala's trial began on October 2, 2017. In his opening statements, Khattala's lawyer, Jeffrey Robinson, denied Khattala's participation in the attacks. On November 28, 2017 a jury acquitted Khattala of 14 of the 18 charges he faced. One additional suspect is currently in US custody. Mustafa al Imam, who was captured in October 2017. He has been charged with three terrorism-related offenses and will make an appearance in federal court in December.