Benghazi suspect stays in jail, judge rules

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Libyan militia leader charged in connection with the 2012 killing of the U.S. ambassador and three others at the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi must remain in government custody without bail.

In her ruling, Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson sided with the Justice Department, which argued that the suspect, Ahmed Abu Khattala, should be held until he faced trial because he continued to pose a threat.

The Justice Department contends that he has extremist views and has plotted attacks against the United States and Western interests in recent months.

A lawyer for Abu Khattala, Michelle Peterson, did not contest the detention. But Peterson used the hearing as a forum to attack the government's case, contending that it had not been able to back up the claims it had made in court about Abu Khattala's involvement in the attacks.

Peterson also said prosecutors had failed to share information in time to enable Khattala to challenge his detention, leaving her "to try to glean from press reports what the government's evidence is." Her client reserves the right to seek bail again once he has had a chance to review the government's case, she said.

Given "the utter lack of evidence," Peterson said, "it's incredibly difficult to defend Khattala."

A federal prosecutor, Michael DiLorenzo, said that the government had given "critical" video clips to Peterson on Wednesday and that it would provide more this week.

Peterson also took on the government's contention that Abu Khattala posed a threat to the United States because he possessed a loaded gun at the time he was apprehended by U.S. commandos in Libya a little more than two weeks ago.

The place where Abu Khattala lived in eastern Libya, Peterson said, is dangerous, and it is "not unusual to be armed" there.

Abu Khattala had spent "a decade" fighting the government of Moammar Gadhafi and led a group that opposed him -- a cause the United States had supported, she said.

In documents filed Tuesday and in statements in court Wednesday, the Justice Department laid out several reasons Abu Khattala should be detained.

Prosecutors described Abu Khattala as "a commander in an extremist militia group who is fully committed to causing death and destruction to American personnel and property." They said that if he were set free, he would be motivated to flee because he has few ties to people in the United States.

Abu Khattala, they said, has "extensive contacts with senior-level members of extremist groups throughout Libya" and "could communicate and further conspire with many of those extremist individuals." If set free, the filing said, Abu Khattala could "continue to communicate his plans for additional deadly attacks to other extremists and encourage them to carry out those plans."

"Given the defendant's proclivity for violence," prosecutors argued, "as well as his ability to readily communicate with other similar-minded individuals, as demonstrated by his status as a commander of an extremist brigade, his detention is the only means available to neutralize that threat."

Abu Khattala was snatched by U.S. commandos in a raid outside Benghazi and taken to a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

On Saturday, he was taken to Washington from the ship. He was arraigned that same day and pleaded innocent to one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists that resulted in a death, a crime that carries a possible life sentence.

In the filing, the government said that since his capture, Abu Khattala had provided U.S. interrogators with "voluntary statements" that corroborated key facts about the attacks. The filing did not say what those facts were.

According to U.S. officials, Abu Khattala has discussed what occurred on Sept. 11, 2012, the day of the attacks, although he has not incriminated himself in the killing of the four Americans.

Those killed were U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens; Sean Smith, a State Department official; and two Central Intelligence Agency contractors, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said the U.S. is continuing to look for co-conspirators and may revise the charges against Abu Khattala.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who joined the court in March after being appointed by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

Information for this article was contributed by Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times and by Andrew Zajac of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 07/03/2014

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