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Tripoli, 3 October:
The United States is reported to be putting together a list of targets suspected of involvement in the fatal attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on 11 September.
Officials in Washington are said to be frustrated at the slow progress being made by the Libyan government in pushing forward with the case and apprehending those responsible.
To date, only eight men are believed to have been arrested in connection with the incident, although the government has said that dozens more are under investigation.
A FBI team that arrived in Libya almost two weeks ago has still not been able to visit the crime scene, although Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel Aziz said yesterday that permission would shortly be granted.
“We are getting ready for the FBI team to go to Benghazi and meet with our team, start joint investigations”, he said. “We are now in the context of [granting] written permission”.
In a report by the New York Times today it is claimed that the US could resort to force against those on the target lists, including drone strikes and special forces operations.
A counter-terrorist team was deployed to Libya in the immediate aftermath of the assault, which left four Americans dead including the US Ambassador, whilst drones have also been conducting surveillance patrols in the area.
The possibility of such contingencies being authorised by Washington are, however, extremely low, and Prime Minister-elect Mustafa Abushagur has made it clear that no infringement of Libyan sovereignty will be permitted.
Much more likely would be joint raids in conjunction with Libyan forces, or else assistance with intelligence gathering to allow for exclusively Libyan raids, in order to arrest the suspects.
In recent weeks Washington has moved from claims that the assault was a spontaneous reaction to the publication of an anti-Muslim film towards the conclusion that it was a planned terrorist attack.
Intelligence intercepts reportedly reveal members of the Islamist Ansar Al-Sharia brigade bragging about the assault to contacts inside Al-Qaeda’s North African franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, another Al-Qaeda offshoot operating primarily out of Yemen, has praised the assault on the consulate and called for further attacks.
National Congress President Mohammed Magarief has long claimed the attack was pre-planned and refuted suggestions that Qaddafi loyalists or the anti-Islam film were to blame.
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