Libya, Benghazi | featured news

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.

The assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi last month appears to have been an opportunistic attack rather than a long-planned operation, and intelligence agencies have found no evidence that it was ordered by Al Qaeda, according to U.S. officials and witnesses interviewed in Libya.

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.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday told CNN that she assumes responsibility for last month's deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

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.

...Axelrod also said Romney is campaigning and "working hard to exploit" the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others in Libya. He cited the comments of the ambassador's father, Jan Stevens, who told Bloomberg News that "it would really be abhorrent to make this into a campaign issue," and that the matter is under investigation.

The White House is defending Vice President Biden over his debate statement that "we weren't told" about requests for more security at a U.S. Consulate in Libya before the Sept. 11 attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others.

A Republican-led House oversight committee opens hearings Wednesday on diplomatic security in Benghazi, where a U.S. ambassador and three others were killed on Sept. 11, adding fuel to a political debate over the issue in the final weeks before presidential elections... GOP lawmakers deny they are trying to embarrass the Obama administration before the election.

Libya’s prime minister-elect failed a confidence vote by an overwhelming margin on Sunday, removing him from office and throwing the country into yet more political uncertainty as time ticks on an investigation into attacks that killed four Americans last month.