A burnt car is parked in front of U.S. consulate in Benghazi after the attack in September. Mohammad Hannon/AP
Benghazi suspect released for lack of evidence
Only man arrested in embassy attack is out of jail.
The only suspect to be arrested over the Benghazi embassy attack was released from jail on Tuesday after authorities declared that they did not have enough evidence to hold him further. Ali Harzi, a Tunisia citizen, was arrested in Turkey on October 3 and tkaen back to Tunis, where he's faced questioning from FBI agents investigating the incident.
Officially, Harzi was only labeled a witness and not a suspect, but he was "strongly suspected" of playing a role in the attack on the consulate and possibly other terrorist attacks, including one on the U.S. embassy in Tunis. He has been accused of having ties to several terrorist groups in the region, including al-Qaeda, but his lawyers have insisted all along that he is innocent and that there is no evidence to support the claims.
If nothing concrete has come from Harzi's arrest, it seems that for now, the investigation is completely stalled. It's been nearly four months since the attack that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, yet there have been no reprisals, no charges drawn, and now no suspects in custody. It's not clear if Harzi was even able to provide useful information to the FBI, or was simply a dead end. Either way, it appears the U.S. is no closer to finding the culpritsthan they were back in September.