Libya attack may have been planned, US officials say

The attack that killed the US ambassador and three other American diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, may have been planned and organised in advance, US government officials said on Wednesday.

The officials said there were indications that members of a militant faction calling itself Ansar al Sharia - which translates as Supporters of Islamic Law – may have been involved in organising the attack on the US Consulate in Libya’s second-largest city.

They also said some reporting from the region suggested that members of al-Qaeda’s north Africa-based affiliate, known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, may have been involved.

“It bears the hallmarks of an organised attack” and appeared to be preplanned, one US official said.

The officials asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information. More specific details about the possible role of militant groups or cells in the attack were not immediately available.

Later on Wednesday, a US official told reporters that the US military is moving two destroyers toward the Libyan coast, giving the Obama administration flexibility for any future action against Libyan targets.

The USS Laboon, which had been making a port call in Crete, could be in position within hours. The other destroyer, the USS McFaul, was a couple of days away, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.