Benghazi suspect, Ahmed Abu Khatallah, detained with incident, Libya mad about arrest

Benghazi attack suspect Ahmed Abu Khatallah was watched by U.S. commandos, law enforcement and intelligence for days before his capture, several U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Not a single shot was fired when the manhunt was successfully completed over the weekend, U.S. officials said.

Abu Khatallah’s arrest and detention marks the first by the United States in connection with the deadly 2012 attack on the CIA safehouse in Benghazi, Libya.

Officials in Libya condemned the move. In the first official reaction from Tripoli, Justice Minister Saleh al-Marghani said Khatallah should be returned to Libya and tried there.

“We had no prior notification,” Marghani told a news conference. “We expect the world to help us with security. We expected the United States to help us, but we did not expect the United States to upset the political scene.”

He said Khatallah had been wanted by Libyan authorities for questioning but they had been unable to arrest him due to the security situation.

The Obama administration has been criticized for not arresting Abu Khatallah sooner, especially after he was interviewed by CNN’s Arwa Damon last year. Khatallah said he was ready to talk to U.S. investigators but “not as an interrogation.”

Now he is on the USS New York heading to the United States, interrogated by the FBI-led High Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG. Taking him by sea, rather than by air, allows investigators “maximum time to question him,” U.S. officials said.

“…this individual will now face the full weight of the American justice system.” President Obama said “[o]ne jubilant official called Khattala’s capture ‘a reminder that when the United States says it’s going to hold someone accountable and he will face justice, this is what we mean.’”