Zubayar al-Bakoush is suspected in Libya attack resulting in deaths of US ambassador and three other Americans
The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced on Friday the arrest of a “key participant” in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four US government officials, including the US ambassador to Libya, J Christopher Stevens.
Bondi said the suspect, Zubayar al-Bakoush, was taken into US custody at 3am ET on Friday. “We will prosecute this alleged terrorist to the fullest extent of the law. He’ll face charges related to murder, terrorism, arson, among others,” Bondi told reporters at a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington DC.
The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, added that he needed to protect the “integrity” of the investigation and could not expand on operational details, but noted the government carried out what is known as a “foreign transfer of custody” to bring the suspect to the US.
The attack on the American government compounds was a political flashpoint of the Obama administration, triggering years of scrutiny and investigations into the government’s preparedness at the time and response to the attack on the consulate, with criticism by Republicans especially focused on Barack Obama and his then secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.
