Libyan officials say suspects in killing of U.S. teacher held

CAIRO—Authorities in eastern Libya said Thursday they have taken into custody suspects in the 2013 killing of a U.S. chemistry teacher in Benghazi, and that more suspects would be tried over the deadly attack a year earlier that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans there.

The announcement highlights efforts by Libya’s eastern forces, led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, to bring justice to hundreds of cases involving unlawful killings. Authorities have also come under pressure by families of the detained who are awaiting hearings.

“Those who took part in this crime are in custody,” the self-styled Libyan National Army said on social media. The announcement was presented alongside details on dozens of other unsolved local cases, in hopes of stopping not-infrequent cycles of revenge killings.

Smith taught at Benghazi’s International School. The U.S. State Department at the time said he was killed while jogging, while Libyan security officials said he was shot near the compound where U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed by Islamic militants a year earlier.

The army’s communication office said that Smith’s killing had been ordered by Libyan militant Ahmed Abu Khattala, now imprisoned in the United States serving a 22-year sentence for his role in the rampage that killed Stevens and the three other Americans on Sept. 11, 2012.

Abu Khattala was captured by U.S. commandos in Libya in 2014.