WASHINGTON — One of the suspected ringleaders of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya — who taunted the United States for months while hiding in plain sight — was captured in a weekend raid by US special forces.
Elite troops working with the FBI nabbed Ahmed Abu Khattala on Sunday on the outskirts of Benghazi following months of planning, the Obama administration said Tuesday.
But his whereabouts were hardly a secret.
As recently as six months ago, Abu Khattala was granting interviews — and daring the United States to come and get him.
Abu Khattala boldly told Reuters in October 2012: “These reports say that no one knows where I am and that I am hiding. But here I am in the open, sitting in a hotel with you. I’m even going to pick up my sister’s kids from school soon.”
He’s now in American custody and making his way to the United States, officials said.
Abu Khattala’s the first person to be charged in the fiery attack on a US consulate in Libya in which US Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed. The building was torched by a mob armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Three other Americans were slain in that attack and a second assault on a CIA facility in the city.
The administration faced immediate questions about why the United States didn’t nab Abu Khattala sooner.
There was even a report that President Obama had a plan on his desk for more than a year, but held off out of concern an action might destabilize the nascent Libyan government.
The United States under took the raid “as soon as the president and his national security team were confident the mission could be carried out successfully,” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.
Obama said during an event in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, “We’ll always go after anybody who goes after us — no matter how long it takes.”
The feds are making plans to try Abu Khattala in American courts — a move that drew criticism on Capitol Hill, where some Senate Republicans are already calling for him to be sent to Guantanamo Bay.
Federal prosecutors indicted Abu Khattala in Washington, DC, federal court last year and accused him of killing a person during an attack on a federal facility — a charge that could bring the death penalty.
“We retain the option of adding additional charges in the coming days,” Attorney General Eric Holder said.