An Egyptian Islamist released from jail during the Arab Spring is thought to be behind the attack on the US consulate that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
The al-Marsad News Network, an Egyptian media organization, posted a “rare” video interview with Muhammad Jamal al-Kashef AKA Abu Ahmed, who reportedly led the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012. (SITE)
The Al-Marsad News interviewer concludes the discussion by congratulating him, according to SITE’s translation. “A thousand congratulations, Sheikh Abu Ahmed, a thousand congratulations, Muhammad Jamal Abu al Kashef. Peace be upon you O Sheikh!”
FOX News reported:
The list of suspects in the Libya terror attack now extends to a handful of suspected militants aligned with an Egyptian group known as the Jamal Network, Fox News has learned.
A U.S. official said the Jamal Network is committed to violence to attain its political ambitions, adding they are “hard-core, violent extremists in Egypt who are trying to develop a relationship with Al Qaeda.”
The additional suspects are being investigated after one Tunisian suspect, Ali Ani al-Harzi, was first arrested in Turkey — after being identified through telephone intercepts where he bragged to friends about his involvement — and transferred to Tunisian custody. There is also at least one suspect with ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq.
The radical ties of the suspects further raises questions about the degree of planning that may have been involved in an attack initially described as “spontaneous.”
The Jamal Network takes its name from Mohammed Jamal Abu Ahmed, who was released from an Egyptian jail during the Arab Spring and is now trying to establish himself as a leader in Jihadi circles. U.S. officials believe he established training camps in Libya, and it was in these camps that some of the fighters linked to the attack were trained.
