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The Benghazi report has found no wrongdoing by the Obama administration in responding to the deadly 2012 attack on the US consulate in Libya.
The inquiry by the Republican-run House Intelligence Committee also said there was no intelligence failure and no delay in sending a CIA rescue team.
The Obama administration had been accused of mishandling its response.
Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, died in the raid carried out by Islamist militants.
In a report released on November 21, the committee dismissed a claim that the CIA had not provided adequate security for its own agents near the Benghazi consulate and that the Obama administration had failed to send support.
It said it reached its conclusion based on “thousands of hours of detailed investigation” and interviews with senior American officials and the agents who had been on the ground during the attack on September 11, 2012.
“The CIA ensured sufficient security for CIA activities in Benghazi and, without a requirement to do so, ably and bravely assisted the state department on the night of the attacks,” the report said.
“Appropriate US personnel made reasonable tactical decisions that night, and the committee found no evidence that there was a stand-down order or a denial of available air support.
“The CIA received all military support that was available.”
However, the Benghazi report concluded that the mission had inadequate security and therefore had required CIA assistance.
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Mohammed Abu Jamal Ahmed, one of the suspects in the Benghazi attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, has been arrested, NBC News is reporting.
Mohammed Abu Jamal Ahmed, who is accused of playing a role in September’s deadly attack against the U.S. Consulate in Libya, was detained in Cairo, according to NBC, which cited two unnamed sources in its report.
In addition to his possible involvement in the Benghazi attack, Mohammed Abu Jamal Ahmed is also accused of illegally trafficking weapons from Libya to Egypt.
Mohammed Abu Jamal Ahmed was freed from an Egyptian prison around the time that former President Muammar Gadhafi was ousted from power.
He is believed to be affiliated with a number of militant groups in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Wall Street Journal reported in October that he was trying to establish a new branch of al-Qaeda.
Mohammed Abu Jamal Ahmed, one of the suspects in the Benghazi attack that killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, has been arrested in Cairo
Sources told the Journal that he had already secured financing for the group.
Early intelligence reports suggested that Mohammed Abu Jamal Ahmed had established training camps in Libya for the fighters involved in the September 11 attack that killed four Americans, according to Journal.
The White House and the Pentagon initially said the attack was a spontaneous reaction to anti-Muslim film The Innocence of Muslims directed by an American.
That story later changed, however, as it was revealed that those involved in the attack had militant ties – and that administration officials were aware of those ties when they publicly claimed that the attack was in response to anti-Muslim film.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she takes responsibility for the security failure at the Benghazi consulate that led to the killing of four Americans in Libya last month.
Hillary Clinton said ensuring the safety of US diplomatic staff overseas was her job, not that of the White House.
Republicans have strongly criticized President Barack Obama over the attack.
And Republican challenger Mitt Romney is likely to raise it again in the second campaign debate with Barack Obama.
It seems Hillary Clinton is trying to draw criticism away from Barack Obama, who needs a strong debate performance if he is to recover his lead in the polls.
In her interviews, Hillary Clinton appeared to acknowledge that she was trying to shield the president.
“What we had to do in the state department was keep focused not on why something happened – that was for the intelligence community to determine – but what was happening and what could happen,” Hillary Clinton said.
“And that’s what I was very much working on, day and night, to try to make sure that we intervened with governments. We did everything we could to keep our people safe, which is my primary responsibility.”
Hillary Clinton said she was focused on tracking down the killers of the US ambassador to Libya and bringing them to justice.
“I don’t think we want to get into any blame game. I think what we want to do is get to the bottom of what happened, figure out what we’re going to do to protect people and prevent it from happening again and then track down whoever did and bring them to justice.”
Last week, a US congressional committee heard US security in Libya was reduced before the attack on the US consulate, even as violence worsened.
Mitt Romney has been making the Benghazi attack the centrepiece of his case against President Obama’s foreign policy, and has accused Vice-President Joe Biden of making misleading statements about the attack.
Mitt Romney said Joe Biden’s statement in the recent vice-presidential debate that the administration was not told about requests for extra security in Libya contradicted the sworn testimony of state department officials.
A congressional panel has already heard there had been repeated requests to the state department for beefed-up security at the diplomatic compound.
In the days after the attack, Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, described it as a “spontaneous” assault that arose out of a protest against a US-made amateur video which mocks Islam.
But US officials have since said the government had never concluded the attack was motivated by the film.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are preparing to face off in their second debate later on Tuesday, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
Mitt Romney was widely acknowledged as having the upper hand in the first debate, which was reflected in the opinion polls, with many showing for the first time in the campaign Mitt Romney in the lead.
Ambassador Christopher Stevens died of smoke inhalation when he was trapped alone in the burning consulate building on 11 September. Three other officials were killed, and three wounded.
Earlier this week, the father of Ambassador Christopher Stevens said it would be “abhorrent” to turn his son’s death into a campaign issue.
“Our position is it would be a real shame if this were politicized,” Jan Stevens said.
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Libya’s interim leader Mohammed Magarief has vowed to disband all illegal militias in the aftermath of the US ambassador’s death this month.
All camps and militias not under the authority of the government would be dissolved and no unauthorized checkpoints allowed, he said.
Militias that emerged during the fight to topple Colonel Muammar Gaddafi last year remain a powerful force.
Residents of Benghazi evicted militants in response to the envoy’s death.
Libya’s interim leader Mohammed Magarief has vowed to disband all illegal militias in the aftermath of the US ambassador's death
Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others Americans died during an attack on the city’s US consulate on 11 September, which coincided with protests over an anti-Islam video produced in the US.
Islamist militants have denied being behind the attack.
Libya has been awash with firearms as well as powerful regional brigades and local town militias since the uprising.
The government has relied on some brigades to help provide security, and many people will be watching closely to see how the authorities will go about achieving the mammoth task of gaining full military control over the country.
“[We want to] dissolve all militias and military camps which are not under the control of the state,” said Mohammed Magarief, the parliamentary speaker who acts as head of state until elections next year.
“We call on everyone to stop using violence and carrying weapons in the streets and squares and public places.”
One powerful militia in eastern Libya, the Abu Slim Brigade, has already announced it will disband and leave its bases in Derna, a town east of Benghazi.
Another militia, Ansar al-Sharia, which denies attacking the US consulate, is also reported to be leaving Derna.
Ansar al-Sharia was driven out of its headquarters in Benghazi over the weekend in unrest which left at least 11 people dead.
However, the militants left with their weapons.
Anderson Cooper admitted on Friday that CNN had come across the late Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ personal journal and used parts of it in its reporting without disclosing the source.
On Wednesday on his show Anderson Cooper 360, the CNN host told Senator John McCain that “a source familiar with Ambassador Stevens’ thinking told us that in the months before his death he talked about being worried about the never-ending security threats that he was facing in Benghazi, and specifically about the rise in Islamist extremism and growing al Qaeda presence”.
Anderson Cooper added that “the source also mentioned [Stevens] being on an al Qaeda hit list”.
Two days later, Anderson Cooper acknowledged that CNN had obtained Christopher Stevens’ journal, and that some of the information regarding the late ambassador’s thought process in the months leading to the deadly September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was drawn from his entries.
Anderson Cooper admitted that CNN had come across the late Ambassador Christopher Stevens' personal journal and used parts of it in its reporting without disclosing the source
“On Wednesday of this week, we reported that a source familiar with Ambassador Stevens’ thinking said in the months before his death, Ambassador Stevens talked about being worried about what he called the never-ending security threats in Benghazi,” Anderson Cooper told his viewers Friday night.
“We also reported that the ambassador specifically mentioned the rise in Islamic extremism, the growing al Qaeda presence in Libya and said he was on an al Qaeda hit list.
“The information for that report, like all of CNN’s reporting, was carefully vetted. Some of that information was found in a personal journal of Ambassador Stevens in his handwriting.
“We came upon the journal through our reporting and notified the family. At their request, we returned that journal to them. We reported what we found newsworthy in the ambassador’s writings. A reporter followed up on what we found newsworthy, as I said, in the ambassador’s writings,” Anderson Cooper concluded.
Shortly after 1: 00 a.m. on Saturday, CNN published a story without a by-line on its website explaining how the journal came into its possession, and how the information it contains was used in the network’s reporting.
According to the article, CNN found Christopher Stevens’ journal four days after the ambassador was killed by Libyans protesting an anti-Muslim film produced by an American filmmaker.
President Barack Obama has confirmed that US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, is among four Americans killed in an attack on the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
Unidentified armed men stormed the grounds on Tuesday night in a protest over a US-produced film that is said to insult the Prophet Muhammad.
They shot at buildings and threw handmade bombs into the compound.
Protesters also attacked the US embassy in Cairo over the film.
In a statement, Barack Obama condemned the “outrageous attack” on the facility in Benghazi.
US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, is among four Americans killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi
“Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States. Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi,” he said.
President Barack Obama also ordered a tightening of security at US diplomatic posts around the globe.
A second US man killed in the attack was named as Sean Smith, a father of two who was employed as an information management officer.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Sean Smith as “one of the best”.
The names of the remaining two victims have not yet been released.
It is not yet clear how the four died.
Hillary Clinton said of Christopher Stevens: “Chris was committed to advancing America’s values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger.”
The killings were also condemned by the Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur.
“I condemn these barbaric acts in the strongest possible terms. This is an attack on America, Libya and free people everywhere,” he said on the social networking site Twitter.
Reports say a militia known as the Ansar al-Sharia brigade was involved in the attack, but the group has denied the claim.
Many people are still armed following the conflict that overthrew Col. Muammar Gaddafi last year.
Analysts say the attack will raise serious new concerns about stability in the country and the ability of the new Libyan administration to maintain security.
Other countries will be wondering whether their consular staff is safe in Libya, they say.
The film that sparked the demonstration is said to have been produced by a 52-year-old US citizen from California named Sam Bacile, and promoted by an expatriate Egyptian Copt.
The two men are described as having anti-Islamic views.
A trailer of the low-budget movie, which correspondents say is highly provocative and insulting to Muslims, has appeared on YouTube translated into Arabic.
There are real fears that protests over the video could spread.
A demonstration in Cairo on Tuesday saw protesters breach the US embassy and tear down the US flag, which was flying at half mast to mark the 9/11 attacks.
They condemned what they said was the humiliation of the Prophet of Islam under the pretext of freedom of speech.
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