Special ops raid to capture Benghazi attacker called off

CNN:

When U.S. commandos grabbed a former al Qaeda operative in Tripoli this month, American forces were just hours away from potentially launching a more dangerous covert raid to capture a militia figure facing charges in the deadly Benghazi terror attack, U.S. officials tell CNN.

U.S. special operations forces were ready, if ordered, to enter Benghazi and capture Ahmed Abu Khattalah, a leading figure in the Ansar Al-Sharia militia. But the mission never materialized.

The United States believes Ansar Al-Sharia was behind the September 2012 armed assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other targets.

President Barack Obama has openly said it is a "priority" to bring the Benghazi suspects "to justice." The FBI continues to investigate the attack and Khattalah is under federal indictment, CNN's Evan Perez has reported.

The FBI has also published photographs of people seen at the compound on the night of the raid that it wants to talk to.

U.S. intelligence agencies and military special operations forces have moved in and out of Libya for several months with the permission of the Libyan government. They are looking for opportunities to capture alleged suspects in the Benghazi attack, developing a list of nearly a dozen individuals.

But earlier this month may have been one of the closest times they have come to being able to conduct a mission, officials say.

Khattalah had openly operated in Benghazi for months and even has been interviewed by CNN's Arwa Damon.

But it was this month that U.S. intelligence finally had enough information about his specific whereabouts that a raid seemed feasible to military planners, several U.S. officials tell CNN.
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There is much more.

The raid was apparently called off because of the publicity that surrounded the al-Libi capture around the same time.  Duh.  Did they think no one would notice.  Why not plan a raid that would capture both at the same time?