At UN meeting Secretary of State Links al-Qaida Group to 9/11 Libyan Attack and Ambassador’s Death

Hillary Clinton tells UN meeting on North African security that  9/11 attack on  Libyan Consulate is evidence that extremist groups – including an Al Qaeda affiliate – are capable of causing havoc in the region.

According to a report in the “Christian Science Monitor,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated for the first time on Wednesday that there had been a link between al-Qaida operatives in North Africa and the 9/11/12  attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.

Clinton said that, "What is happening inside Mali is augmented by the rising threat from violent extremism across the region.” She added that groups including al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb have launched attacks from northern Mali into neighboring countries; and that the same groups  “are working with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions underway in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.”

Howard LaFranchi, a staff writer for the CSM, said that the Secretary of State Clinton went further in asserting that the September 11th  attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya involved terrorists, including the mention of an al–Qaida connection, than any other Obama administration official had previously gone. The Secretary of State’s remarks were an amplification of what had been reported previously by the head of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, Matthew Olsen, in congressional testimony last week. However, his testimony was only that information >>> suggested <<< those involved in the attack might have had some level of contact with Al Qaeda and its affiliates – in particular, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).