More arrests in U.S. Consulate attack, Libyan official says
updated 10:57 AM EDT, Mon September 17, 2012
Pakistani demonstrators beat an
effigy of Florida pastor Terry Jones during a protest against an
anti-Islam film in Lahore on Monday, September 24. More than 50 people
have died around the world in violence linked to protests against the
low-budget movie, which mocks Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, since the
first demonstrations erupted on September 11. See more of CNN's best photography.
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Anti-U.S. demonstrations worldwide
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The president of Libya's parliament says around 50 people are arrested
- Another senior official disputes that number and says 50 have been questioned
- There are differing views on whether the Tuesday attack was planned
Editor's note: Read a version of this story in Arabic
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan authorities have made more arrests in connection with the attack on the U.S. Consulate that left the U.S. ambassador and three others dead, the president of Libya's parliament said Sunday.
Mohamed al-Magariaf, the
head of Libya's General National Congress, said around 50 people have
been arrested, though another senior government official said the number
was not that high.
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The official said as many
as 50 people have been brought in for questioning but not all of them
were arrested. They were people who were at a protest outside the
consulate but there was no indication yet that they took part in the
violence, he said.
Al-Magariaf told CBS'
"Face the Nation" that a "few" of those arrested are foreigners, some of
them from Mali and Algeria. The others are affiliated with al Qaeda or
are sympathizers, he said.
Al-Magariaf said he has
"no doubt" the fatal attack was planned and not a result of the
anti-American demonstrations that began that day -- the 11th anniversary
of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
"Definitely it was
planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months
ago, and they were planning this criminal act since their arrival," he
said.
The senior Libyan government official said there is no evidence yet that the attack was planned or that al Qaeda was involved.
U.S. officials believe
extremists carried out the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, but that
they did it after a spontaneous protest began outside the building,
said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
"We do not have
information at present that leads us to conclude that this was
premeditated or preplanned," Rice told "Face the Nation."
The FBI is investigating
the attack but has yet to enter the country because of volatility
there. In the meantime, FBI agents are interviewing witnesses outside
Libya, federal law enforcement officials said.
The United States has,
however, deployed warships and surveillance drones in its hunt for the
killers, and a contingent of 50 Marines has arrived to boost the
security of Americans in Libya.
Militants stormed the consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, killing Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
The protest in front of the consulate was over a film, made in the United States, that mocks the Prophet Mohammed.
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