US judge orders Benghazi trial delay

Washington (AFP) - A US judge ordered a delay in the trial of Abu Khatallah, accused of being the ringleader of a 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.

In a brief ruling, US District Judge Christopher Cooper granted a motion waiving Khatallah's right to a speedy trial, delaying until October 20 a hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday.

Khatallah, who faces life in prison if convicted, pleaded not guilty June 28 to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists resulting in death during the September 11, 2012 attack on US diplomatic facilities in Benghazi.

US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed when militants assaulted the US consulate and a second diplomatic compound in the Libyan port.

In a two-page ruling, Cooper said "the court finds that the case is so unusual and complex that it is unreasonable to expect adequate preparation for pretrial proceedings or for the trial itself with the time limits established by the Speedy Trial Act."

Among the complications he cited was that much of the evidence and many witnesses reside outside the United States, voluminous material needs to be produced, proceedings will have to be translated into Arabic and there is the possibility that the trial will involve "novel questions of fact or law."

In their motion seeking the delay, prosecutors Ronald Machen and Michael DiLorenzo said the government had already provided the defense with 2,500 pages in unclassified documents and photographs and nine videos.

It also had turned over 400 pages of classified documents and 11 videos, they said.

Defense attorneys raised no objection to the delay.