Middle East, Libya | featured news

A senior intelligence official has issued a new timeline for the events surrounding the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, indicating a series of tragic miscalculations that left CIA officers exposed at an annex near the consulate -- but no evidence of interference from Washington or of the CIA witholding aid from the State Department, as Republican critics have alleged.

Interviews suggest that though the State Department received many warnings about the deteriorating situation in Benghazi, none focused on the diplomatic compound that was attacked.

The U.S. military did not quickly intervene during the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya last month because military leaders did not have adequate intelligence information and felt they should not put American forces at risk, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday.

A Libyan militant suspected by Egypt of involvement in last month's attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya has been killed during a raid by Egyptian security forces in Cairo, a security official said on Thursday.

It was six weeks ago on Tuesday that terrorists attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Now, CBS News has obtained email alerts that were put out by the State Department as the attack unfolded. Four Americans were killed in the attack, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

While foreign policy became an unexpected pivotal point in last week's town-hall style presidential debate, Monday's final showdown will focus entirely on international affairs.

Government-allied militias say they have not been told to arrest the man, identified as Ahmed Abu Khattala, in the Benghazi attack. It is unclear where he is... The militia commander who led the deadly raid on the U.S. mission in Benghazi is an Islamist and former political prisoner whose fighters were also blamed for assassinating a senior military officer after he defected to the opposition during last year's revolution against Moammar Kadafi, a senior Libyan official said.

Debate moderator Candy Crowley interjected during Mitt Romney's remarks in Tuesday's presidential debate, saying that President Obama "did in fact" call the attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya an act of terror the day after the incident.

White House reportedly weighing retaliation for deadly consulate attack if al-Qaeda militants are identified.

The father of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was killed in an attack on the consulate in Libya last month, says his son's death shouldn't be made into a political football in the presidential race.