Abu Khattala has repeatedly denied leading or even taking part in the assault. He has acknowledged that he was outside the U.S. compound when it was besieged; in some interviews, he claimed to have been directing traffic, though what that would mean on a night when men with guns were arriving in various vehicles is hard to say. (In a thorough and exhaustive report, David Kirkpatrick wrote in the Times that numerous people present that night described Abu Khattala as a “central figure in the attack.”) When I asked about the assault, he claimed that he and other militiamen had arrived at the scene after hearing there was a disturbance: “We were trying to bring order.”
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