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Benghazi attackers linked to al-Qaeda, U.S. commander says

The head of the U.S. military's Africa Command says some of those who attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, were linked to al-Qaeda's North Africa arm.
U.S. General Carter Ham, Commander of the United States military mission in Libya, talks to the media during a press conference he held in the Sigonella airbase, Sicily, on March 24, 2011. (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press)

The head of the U.S. military's Africa Command says some of those who attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya were linked to al-Qaeda's North Africa arm.

Gen. Carter Ham told reporters in Paris on Wednesday, "clearly some of these individuals have some linkages" to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM.

However, he said the attack was not necessarily "an AQIM-planned or organized or led activity."

U.S. Ambassador in Libya Chris Stevens and three others were killed in the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi. Investigations are under way into what happened.

Ham also discussed African and international efforts toward a possible military intervention in northern Mali, which is controlled by AQIM and other extremists.