The day after the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks President Obama
said: “Make no mistake. We will work with the Libyan government to
bring justice to the killers who attacked our people.”
But, more than
seven months later, there are no indictments and no arrests. According
to a House Republican Conference
report on the Benghazi attacks, FBI investigators have made “very little progress.”
In fact, the only one who has actually been apprehended and
locked up is the filmmaker who, it was determined, was
not responsible for inciting the violence in Benghazi. Meanwhile, the actual suspects are still at large.
Sufyan Ben Qumu, is
believed
to have been involved and may be the ringleader of the attacks. Qumu
has been recently spotted in Libya. Released from the US prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2007 Qumu was then transferred into Libyan
custody on the condition he be kept in jail. He was released, however,
by the Qaddafi regime as part of its reconciliation effort with
Islamists in 2008. One of the suspects in the attack
was detained in Tunisia but was released before he could be captured or questioned by US investigators.
The
FBI
recently released images of three individuals who were on the grounds
of the US Special Mission in Benghazi when it was attacked in
September. The images are of men who may be able to provide information
to help the FBI’s investigation. Additionally, a
webpage was launched by the FBI in order to solicit tips in the region. Also provided is a companion
Facebook page which is in Arabic. The webpage,
fbi.gov/benghazi, includes images, tip forms, and posters in Arabic and English, as well as an e-mail address,
benghazitips@ic.fbi.gov,
for submissions of confidential information to investigators. The site
also includes a video featuring an Arabic speaker soliciting tips from
the region.
A source told
Fox News,
however, that the government is “sitting on” information. ”We basically
don’t want to upset anybody, and the problem is, if Ambassador Stevens’
family knew that we were sitting on information about the people who
killed their son, their brother, on and on, then, and we could look them
as a government in the face, then we’re messing up. We’re messing up.”
the source said.
Fox News
spoke exclusively with one special operator who watched the events
unfold in real time and has debriefed those who were part of the
response:
“He remains anonymous for his safety and
has decided to talk because he says he and others connected with the
Sept. 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi are frustrated with the excuses and
lack of a military response since Stevens and three other Americans were
killed.
‘We have all the capability, all the
training, all the capacity, to kill and capture not only terrorists
involved, with the specific events of 9/11, and Ambassador Stevens’
death, but terrorists that are feeding other regions including Europe
that could eventually affect our national security in the short term,’
the source said. ‘And we’re not talking midterm or long-term, this is
the short-term.’
Another threat is a larger terrorist haven
that continues to build in parts of Libya and North Africa. Those
working the region in the interest of U.S. security say the ball is
being dropped by top leaders at the White House, Pentagon and State
Department.
‘The analysts, the intelligence experts
all say the same thing, that if we just ignore the situation as it
presents itself, eventually it will be another invasion will have to
take place for us to eventually turn the tide.’”
The group the FBI is pursuing is
Ansar al Sharia,
an offshoot of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Ansar
al-Sharia means “Partisans of Islamic law” in Arabic. The terrorist
organization was formed by AQAP in response to the growing youth
movement in Yemen, which has marginalized Salafi-jihadists who support
the violent overthrow of the government and the establishment of an
Islamic state.
Ansar al Sharia remains active in Benghazi, operating patrols and
checkpoints. According to military officials it is also working in
collusion
with other Islamist groups, allowing it to operate openly. The group,
“continues to spread its ideology in the Benghazi area, particularly
targeting youth,” said one official, who acknowledged that the lack of
central government security was the why the militia is able to thrive.
In terms of apprehending the suspects, Deputy chief of Mission in Libya, Gregory Hicks,
told
the House Oversight Committee at Wednesday’s hearing on Benghazi, that
the administration’s claims regarding an impromptu protest in Benghazi
(which were in direct contradiction to statements made by Libyan prime
minister Mohammed al-Magarief) hampered the FBI’s investigation by
breeding resistance from Libyan authorities. Also problematic is that
when asked whether he had been interviewed by the FBI in the course of
its investigation, Hicks said that he had not. Hicks explained that the
FBI was delayed in getting to the consulate and that evidence had not
been secured.
Susan Rice’s description of the attack as spontaneous, “made
achieving the objective of getting the FBI to Benghazi very, very
difficult,” Hicks said.
