Meet Ahmed Abu Khattala, an alleged ringleader of the Benghazi attack
By Adam Taylor June 17 at 12:05 PM
VIDEO
U.S. Special Operations forces have captured Ahmed Abu Khattala, an alleged ringleader of the 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Here is what is known about Khattala.
Ahmed Abu Khattala is one of the most notorious Islamist commanders in Libya, a leader in the Ansar al-Sharia militia. To most Americans, he is best known for his alleged involvement in one key event: The 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that left Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens dead.
The Benghazi native, now in his early 40s, spent much of his adult life jailed by Moammar Gaddafi for his involvement in Islamist movements. In 2012, he told reporters from the Reuters news agency .. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/18/us-libya-consulate-attack-idUSBRE89H19P20121018 .. that he did not attend university, has never left the country and remains unmarried. He was reported to be a construction worker in his normal life and was described by those who have met him as an eccentric, though apparently friendly, character. (He was memorably described as drinking a strawberry frappe .. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/world/africa/suspect-in-benghazi-attack-scoffs-at-us.html?pagewanted=all .. in a New York Times correction.) Few confirmed photographs of him exist.
During the 2011 uprising against Gaddafi, he became a military leader, forming a small Islamist militia called Obeida Ibn al-Jarra — a group that gained notoriety for its alleged involvement in the killing of rival rebel leader Abdul Fattah Younis. Abu Khattala, widely thought to have links to al-Qaeda and openly opposed to the United States, came to ally himself to Ansar al-Sharia — Partisans of Islamic Law — a militia that espouses an extremely conservative Salafist strain of Islam. Other groups bearing its name later appeared in Libya and Tunisia .. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/radical-islamists-unite-under-fresh-name/2012/09/27/7a168fb0-08ca-11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.html .
The evening of Sept. 11, 2012, brought an unprecedented level of scrutiny to Islamist groups in Benghazi. That night, Islamist militias attacked the U.S. diplomatic mission in the city, then assaulted a nearby CIA compound early the next morning. The chaotic assault left the diplomatic post in flames and resulted in the deaths of Stevens and three other Americans. To this day, the attacks are a controversial topic in U.S. politics.
Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for the Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University. You can follow him on Twitter @mradamtaylor.