Ahmed Abu Khattala, the suspected ringleader of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, has appeared amid tight security at a US federal courthouse in Washington DC.
Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured by US forces in Benghazi on June 18.
He denied a raft of terrorism-related charges. He says he was in Benghazi during the attack on the US consulate but that he did not take part.
Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured by US forces in Benghazi (photo AP)
The US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other people were killed in the September 2012 attack.
Ahemed Abu Khattala was charged with providing material support and resources to terrorists including himself; killing a person on a federal facility; and damaging property of the US by fire and explosives resulting in death.
The next hearing was set for July 8.
American media reported that Ahmed Abu Khattala was brought to court in Washington from a US Navy warship where he had been held since being captured two weeks ago.
The US has described Ahmed Abu Khattala as “key figure” in the attack on the consulate.
President Barack Obama praised the raid which led to his capture earlier this month.
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Ahmed Abu Khattala, the suspected ringleader of the September 2012 raid on a US diplomatic post in the Libyan city of Benghazi, that left four Americans dead, has been captured, the Pentagon says.
Ahmed Abu Khattala was taken into custody in a secret US military raid in Libya on June 15.
He is now being held in a secure location outside the country, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed.
US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed in the attack.
“There were no civilian casualties related to this operation, and all US personnel involved in the operation have safely departed Libya,” Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm John Kirby wrote in a statement.
Benghazi attack lead suspect Ahmed Abu Khattala was taken into custody in a secret US military raid in Libya on June 15
After the announcement, President Barack Obama praised the courage and professionalism of the military, law enforcement and intelligence personnel who tracked and captured Ahmed Abu Khattala, who the US describes as a “key figure” in the attack.
“With this operation, the US has once again demonstrated that we will do whatever it takes to see that justice is done when people harm Americans,” he said in a White House statement.
Ahmed Abu Khattala would face the “full weight of the American justice system”, he said, an indication the US will try him in a civilian court rather than hold him at the military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In August, the New York Times reported that federal prosecutors had prepared secret charges against him, accusing him of murder for his role in the attack.
On September 11, 2012, gunmen stormed the US consulate in Benghazi and set it on fire.
In addition to Chris Stevens, information technology specialist Sean Smith and security workers and ex-Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed.
The White House initially said the attack stemmed from anti-American protests over a crude video produced in the US that was deemed insulting to Islam.
Government investigators soon determined it was an organised attack planned by local militias, although the New York Times claimed after an extensive investigation that some of the attackers were indeed motivated by the film.
The US quietly offered as much as $10 million for information in the months following the attack.
In subsequent years, the incident has become a political lightening rod, with Republicans accusing President Barack Obama’s administration of covering up the involvement of militant groups in the days after the attack in order to assist Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
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