Benghazi Attack Planner Khatallah Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison - US DoJ

18:05 GMT, 27 June 2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US authorities sentenced Libyan national Ahmed Abu Khatalla to 22 years in federal prison for the attack at the American Mission in Benghazi, the Department of Justice said in a press release on Wednesday.

Sputnik

"Ahmed Abu Khatalla, aka Ahmed Mukatalla, 47, a Libyan national, was sentenced today to 22 years in prison on federal terrorism charges and other offenses stemming from the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and US government personnel," the release said.

The Pentagon announced in June 2014 that as a result of a special operation, Khatalla was captured and detained in US custody.

A US jury found him guilty in 2017 of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, destroying property, carrying assault weapons, and placing lives in jeopardy within the jurisdiction of the United States, the release noted.

US Captures Benghazi Attack Mastermind

30 October 2017, 19:59 GMT

In the months following the attack, the events that took place in 2012 were the topic of several congressional hearings in which US lawmakers criticized how then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded to the attack.

On the night of September 11, 2012, members of the Ansar al-Sharia group attacked the American consulate which resulted in the death of Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.