Libya says US violated sovereignty with Benghazi suspect capture

The United States violated Libya's sovereignty when it seized the suspected ringleader of a deadly 2012 attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi, the Libyan Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

U.S. special forces carried out Sunday's stealth operation under cover of night, capturing Ahmed Abu Khattala near Benghazi and spiriting him out of the country.

"The government condemns this regrettable infringement on Libya's sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Lassoued said in a statement, adding that Tripoli had not been informed in advance.

Announcing the operation on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby would not be drawn in on whether Washington gave Libya advance notice.

But on Wednesday, Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani told a news conference that there was already an outstanding arrest warrant for Abu Khattala.

He said Libyan security forces had not been able to arrest him because of the security situation in the flashpoint eastern city of Benghazi.

Lassoued called on the U.S. to return Abu Khattala to Libya so he could be tried in a Libyan court.

Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed when gunmen stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. A CIA outpost was also targeted.

A month later Abu Khattala told the AFP news agency he was not responsible for the attack but admitted he had been at the consulate on the day of the attack, taking part in a demonstration to protest an anti-Islam video that was posted on YouTube.

The attack became a highly charged political issue, raising questions about security at U.S. missions abroad while then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced hostile questioning before lawmakers.

Republicans alleged that the White House failed to respond decisively and then tried to hide information on the attack.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill have also been quick to voice criticism about the administration's plan to try Abu Khattala as a civilian.

They urged the administration to get as much information out of him as possible before reading him his right to remain silent, supplying him with a lawyer and preparing him for trial in a U.S. courtroom.

Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi declined to comment on whether Abu Khattala had been read his Miranda rights — informing him of his right to remain silent and to have a lawyer — or when that might happen.

"As a general rule, the government will always seek to elicit all actionable intelligence and information we can from terrorist suspects in our custody," Raimondi said in an email.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the interrogation was already underway and “we hope to find out some positive things.”

Some Republicans said Obama should be sending Abu Khattala to the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, instead of U.S. soil, so that he could be interrogated at length.

"The president is more focused on his legacy of closing Guantánamo Bay than preventing future terrorist attacks like what happened in Benghazi," Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,, countered that Abu Khattala can be brought to justice in U.S. courts "just as we have successfully tried more than 500 terrorism suspects since 9/11." He said sending the Libyan to Guantánamo would be taking "the easy way out."

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in an email statement: “We have not added a single person to the [Guantánamo] population since President Obama took office, and we have had substantial success delivering swift justice to terrorists through our federal court system.”

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, Abu Khattala is charged with killing a person in the course of an attack on a federal facility and conspiring to do so; providing, attempting and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists that resulted in death; and discharging, brandishing, using, carrying and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. Officials said he could face the death penalty if convicted of the first charge.

His arrest may not be the last.

FBI Director James Comey, speaking in Minnesota, said Abu Khattala's arrest sends a message to others who need to be held accountable for the Benghazi attacks.

"We will shrink the world to find you. We will shrink the world to bring you to justice," said Comey, whose agents were involved in the operation.

Wire services