Mustafa al-Imam suspect in Benghazi attack held without bond

The second suspect arrested in connection with the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, was ordered held without bond Thursday and entered a plea of not guilty to terrorism-related charges.

Mustafa al-Imam, a 46-year-old Libyan national, was captured last month during a Navy SEAL-led raid in Libya and brought to the U.S. to face charges. He was indicted Wednesday on one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists resulting in death.

Prosecutors have not made public documents that describe Mr. al-Imam’s alleged involvement in the 2012 attack, which killed four Americans. But a motion for pretrial detention filed Thursday offered a few more details about the case against him.

The motion states that video surveillance from the Benghazi mission shows Mr. al-Imam at the compound on the night of the attack and indicates that he was involved in “exploiting sensitive material from the scene.”

The alleged mastermind of the Benghazi attack, Ahmed Abu Khattala, is currently on trial. The motion filed in Mr. al-Imam’s case states that phone records demonstrate that the two men were in “close communication” both during and prior to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack. The motion also states that Mr. al-Imam waived his Miranda rights and agreed to speak voluntarily with FBI investigators after his capture last week.

He told investigators that he was close with Mr. Abu Khattala and the extremist militia he led, he was aware of Mr. Abu Khattala’s “specific animus towards the American presence in Benghazi,” he attempted to accompany Mr. Abu Khattala to the Benghazi mission on the day of the attack, and he helped steal property from the mission after the attack, including materials that “contained location information” that could have helped facilitate a mortar attack that occurred later that day at a CIA-operated building nearby.

Mr. al-Imam’s court-appointed attorney, in brief comments Thursday, said his client was at most guilty of helping to loot the burning U.S. consulate in Benghazi long after the attacks.

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. information management officer Sean Smith died as a result of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. Security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed in a subsequent attack on a nearby government annex.