WASHINGTON (Reuters) – State Department officials suspected that two Libyan guards hired by its own security contractor were behind an April incident in which a homemade bomb was hurled over the wall of the special mission in Benghazi, according to official emails obtained by Reuters.

But the men, who had been taken into custody the day of the attack, were released after questioning by Libyan officials because of a lack of “hard evidence” that could be used to prosecute them, the State Department emails show.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – State Department officials suspected that two Libyan guards hired by its own security contractor were behind an April incident in which a homemade bomb was hurled over the wall of the special mission in Benghazi, according to official emails obtained by Reuters.

But the men, who had been taken into custody the day of the attack, were released after questioning by Libyan officials because of a lack of “hard evidence” that could be used to prosecute them, the State Department emails show.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At a partisan and at times rancorous congressional hearing on events leading to the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, security officers on Wednesday described uphill bureaucratic battles for resources to protect U.S. personnel and facilities.

At the same hearing, senior State Department officials said that as long as the United States sent diplomats into danger zones such as Benghazi, there would be no fail-safe protection.

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Diplomatic security for the
U.S. mission in Benghazi was “a struggle” and security teams in
Libya were drawn down ahead of last month’s fatal attack, the
former head of a U.S. security team in Libya told lawmakers on
Wednesday.

“The security in Benghazi was a struggle and remained a
struggle throughout my time there,” Lieutenant Colonel Andrew
Wood told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
during Congress’ first hearing on the assault that killed U.S.
Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Diplomatic security in Libya
was drawn down ahead of last month’s fatal attack on the U.S.
mission in Benghazi and U.S. officials did not have enough
protection, the former head of a U.S. security team in Libya
told lawmakers on Wednesday.

“The security in Benghazi was a struggle and remained a
struggle throughout my time there … Diplomatic security
remained weak,” Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood told the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee in written testimony.

WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) – U.S. State Department
officials on Tuesday offered their most detailed description yet
of the dramatic events in Benghazi that led to the death of a
U.S. ambassador, but they backed away from earlier assertions
that the events were triggered by protests against an anti-Islam
video.

The officials were briefing reporters on the eve of a
congressional hearing into on the attack last month, which is
expected to focus on security missteps by the department.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi on September 11 has sharpened congressional scrutiny of a State Department office that protects diplomats in the world’s most dangerous corners, as lawmakers ask whether it fatally misjudged the dangers of post-revolution Libya.

The little-known Bureau of Diplomatic Security saw its budget expand about tenfold in the decade after the deadly 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Contributing to that growth were the U.S.-launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, with more diplomats moving into hostile territory.