U.S.: Consulate attackers in Libya tied to al-Qaida

Some of the people who attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, had links to al-Qaida’s North Africa arm, a top U.S. military official said Wednesday, adding that it remained unclear whether the terror network led or organized the deadly assault whose victims included an American ambassador.

Al-Qaida links had been suspected in the attack on Sept. 11, but not publicly detailed.

“Clearly some of these individuals have some linkages to AQIM,” or al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Gen. Carter Ham, the head of the U.S. military’s Africa Command, said in Paris. “That’s not to say that this was an AQIM-planned or organized or led activity.” He did not elaborate.

U.S. Ambassador in Libya Chris Stevens and three others were killed in the attack in Benghazi.

Investigations are under way into what happened. The assault occurred around the same time that protests broke out in Muslim countries over an anti-Islam film made in the United States.

Former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus is willing to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, panel chairman Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday.

“General Petraeus is willing to come before the committee, and the details of that are being worked out,” said Feinstein, D-Calif. She wouldn’t say whether the testimony will come this week.

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