Officials: Libyan government slows investigation

Thursday, December 13, 2012

photo A man looks at documents at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The graffiti reads, "no God but God," "God is great," and "Muhammad is the Prophet." CIA security officers went to the aid of State Department staff less than 25 minutes after they got the first call for help during the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday as they laid out a detailed timeline of the CIA's immediate response to the attack from its annex less than a mile from the diplomatic mission.

WASHINGTON - U.S. counterterrorism officials say the search for suspects in the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya on Sept. 11 is being slowed by uncooperative or less-than-capable local law enforcement in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.

Authorities there have not yet arrested suspects the U.S. wants to question in connection to the violent attack on U.S. compounds in Benghazi on Sept. 11, say two U.S. officials briefed on a closed House intelligence committee hearing Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the briefing publicly.

Egypt has arrested Egyptian Islamic Jihad member Muhammad Jamal Abu Ahmad for possible links to the attack, but officials said that key al-Qaida sympathizers remain free.

Libyan officials could not be reached for comment.