He claims Abu Khattala’s capture was carried out by forces led by the renegade Gen Khalifa Hefter in Benghazi. This could not be independently confirmed.
Gen Hefter has been leading a paramilitary operation in Benghazi against Islamist militias for a month. On 15 June his spokesman claimed they had captured three senior Islamist figures in the city. In October, an American-led operation captured the alleged al-Qaeda operative Abu Anas al-Libi from his home in Tripoli. He is now on trial in New York.
Government investigators soon determined it was an organised attack planned by local militias, although the New York Times claimed after an extensive investigation that some of the attackers were indeed motivated by the film.