Key Benghazi Suspect Is in US Custody: Bondi

A key participant in the deadly 2012 attack on the US compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans has been taken into custody and will be prosecuted, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday. Bondi said in a news conference that Zubayr Al-Bakoush had landed at Joint Base Andrews at 3am on Friday. "We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation," Bondi said, per the AP. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said that an eight-count indictment charged Al-Bakoush with crimes including murder, terrorism, and arson, reports Fox News. The charges include the murders of Ambassador Chris Stevens, State Department employee Sean Smith, and security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

The 2012 attack on the US compound immediately emerged as a divisive political issue as Republicans challenged President Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on security at the facility, the military response to the violence, and the administration's changing narrative about who was responsible and why. A final report by a Republican-led congressional panel faulted the Obama administration for security deficiencies at the Libyan outpost and a slow response to the attacks. The report, however, found no wrongdoing by Clinton. Clinton dismissed the report as an echo of previous probes with no new discoveries, saying it was "time to move on." Other Democrats denounced the Republicans' report as "a conspiracy theory on steroids."

On the night of Sept. 11, 2012, US officials have said, at least 20 militants armed with AK-47s and grenade launchers breached the gate of the consulate compound and set buildings on fire. The fire led to the deaths of Stevens and Smith. Other State Department personnel escaped to a nearby US facility known as the annex. A large group assembled for an attack on the annex. That attack, including a precision mortar barrage, resulted in the deaths of Woods and Doherty. A Libyan militant suspected of being a mastermind of the attacks, Ahmed Abu Khattala, was captured by US special forces in 2014 and was brought to Washington for prosecution. He was convicted and is serving a prison sentence.