A Libyan man long wanted in connection with the killings of four Americans at a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi in 2012 has been brought to the United States to face trial, officials announced on Friday.
The man, Zubayar al-Bakoush, was videotaped entering one of the buildings on the American compound with others who were charged in the initial attack, and an image of him was shown during a previous trial of another person charged in the attack.
“We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference with the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, and the U.S. attorney in Washington, Jeanine Pirro.
Officials did not say how or where the man was captured, but Mr. Patel referred to it as a “transfer of custody,” and Mr. Bakoush had long been believed to be living in Libya.
In the years since the attack, U.S. officials had made attempts to capture Mr. Bakoush, but they did not come to fruition, for reasons that are unclear.
On Sept. 11, 2012, more than a dozen militants with rifles and grenade launchers stormed the diplomatic compound, setting buildings on fire. The blaze killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and a State Department employee, Sean Smith.
Some of the Americans escaped to a nearby American facility called the Annex, but that came under attack from gunfire and mortars that killed two security officers, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty.
Mr. Bakoush is charged with the murders of Mr. Stevens and Mr. Smith, and conspiracy to provide material support for the deaths of all four of the Americans who were killed in the attacks. Court records did not list a lawyer for him.
The deadly attacks over a 13-hour period became a political flashpoint, as Republicans accused the Obama administration and the secretary of state at the time, Hillary Clinton, of failing to protect or rescue the Americans.
A Republican-led panel issued a report faulting the Obama administration for not taking more security precautions, and for not responding quickly enough to the attacks, but the report did not find any wrongdoing by Mrs. Clinton.
In announcing that Mr. Bakoush had been taken into custody, Ms. Bondi criticized Mrs. Clinton and praised President Trump. Mr. Patel, who was a Justice Department national security lawyer assigned to the Benghazi investigation, has for many years disparaged the prosecutorial decisions made around the case.
Mr. Bakoush is the third person arrested in connection with the Benghazi attack.
In 2017, American commandos apprehended Mustafa al-Imam, and he was convicted at trial and sentenced to 19 years in prison. About a month after Mr. Imam was arrested, Ahmed Abu Khattala, the first person charged and prosecuted in the attacks, was convicted after a lengthy federal trial in Washington.
Mr. Khattala was convicted on four counts but acquitted on 14 others.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
The post Libyan Man Is Arrested in Deaths of 4 Americans in 2012 Benghazi Attack appeared first on New York Times.
