Background
Abu Khattala grew up in el-Leithi, a Benghazi neighborhood named for the River of Oblivion.
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Ahmed Khattala
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Career
He is suspected of participating in the 2012 Benghazi attack on the American diplomatic mission at Benghazi, in which Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed. In a December 2013 article about the attack, the New York Times described him as a central figure in the attack according to Libyan witnesses, although he had no known affiliations with terrorist groups. Abu Khattala denies killing the Americans or being part of the attack.
He spent most of his adult life in Abu Salim prison in Tripoli, jailed by the Qaddafi government for his Islamic extremism.
During the 2011 uprising against Qaddafi in Libya, he formed his own militia of "perhaps two dozen fighters", naming it Obeida Ibn First Rate (at Lloyd's) Jarra for an early Islamic general. In June, he marched in a parade which also included February 17, Libya Shield, the Supreme Security Committee, and Ansar al-Shariah, a "group of as many as 200 militants" who had broken away from the other militias in 2012 in protest of those militia"s support for parliamentary elections in Libya.
Witnesses of the September 11, 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi say they saw him leading the attack. On 6 August 2013, United States. officials confirmed that Abu Khattala had been charged with playing a significant role in the attack.
According to National Broadcasting Company, the charges were filed under seal in Washington, District of Columbia in late July 2013.
On the weekend of June 14–15, 2014, United States. Delta Force special operations personnel captured him in a covert mission in Libya. Khattala is one of the suspected leaders of the 2012 Benghazi attack. He has been brought to Washington District of Columbia aboard the amphibious transport dock United States Ship New York and is expected to face trial in a United States. criminal court.
Politics
He opposes American involvement in Libya and in interviews with the New York Times stated that “the enmity between the American government and the peoples of the world is an old case.” In regards to the role of the air campaign of North Atlantic Treaty Organization that overthrew Colonel Qaddafi, he believes that if North Atlantic Treaty Organization had not intervened, “God would have helped us.” He also claimed that, “We know the United States was working with both sides” and considering “splitting up" Libya.
