Accused ringleader of Benghazi attacks escapes death penalty in U.S.

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will not seek the death penalty against Ahmed Abu Khattala, 54, a U.S.-designated terrorist whom prosecutors accuse of leading the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. The announcement, contained in a notice to the federal trial court in Washington, clears the way for a major terrorism trial in the nation’s capital the first in the United States since 2015, barring a plea agreement by Abu Khattala.