Washington — The FBI has arrested one of many “key members” behind the terrorist assault on U.S. services in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that led to the deaths of 4 People, Lawyer Common Pam Bondi introduced on Friday.
“As we speak, I am proud to announce that the FBI has arrested one of many key members behind the Benghazi assault,” Bondi stated. The suspect, named Zubayar al-Bakoush, was transferred to the U.S. in a single day, Bondi stated.
The lawyer basic stated Al-Bakoush will face prices of terrorism, arson and homicide, amongst others, in a while Friday. Bondi made the announcement of his seize alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Lawyer Jeanine Pirro.
“You’ll be able to run, however you can’t cover,” Bondi stated.
The State Division and CIA labored with the FBI to make the arrest attainable, Bondi stated. Patel and Bondi declined to offer many particulars about how the suspect was tracked down, besides to say he was picked up “abroad.” Pirro stated there are extra folks on the market answerable for the killings that day in 2012, and the federal authorities will not cease looking for them.
“Let me be very clear — there are extra of them on the market,” Pirro stated. “Time won’t cease us from going after these predators, regardless of how lengthy it takes, with the intention to fulfill our obligation to these households who suffered horrific ache by the hands of those violent terrorists.”
U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three others — Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty — have been killed within the assault on a U.S. diplomatic compound and close by CIA outpost by militants with the group Ansar al-Sharia. Pirro stated she knowledgeable the surviving members of the family forward of time that the U.S. was capturing Al-Bakoush.
Two others have been prosecuted within the U.S. for his or her roles within the assault. In 2014, U.S. Particular Forces captured Libyan nationwide Ahmed Abu Khatallah, a pacesetter of the assault. He was acquitted of homicide prices in 2017 however convicted on others and initially sentenced to 22 years in jail. He was resentenced to twenty-eight years behind bars in 2024, with a federal choose figuring out his preliminary sentence was too gentle.
In 2017, one other Libyan, Mustafa al-Imam, was captured in a U.S. operation and dropped at face prices. He was discovered responsible at trial in 2019 and sentenced to 19 years in jail.
