Asked if there was truth to the claim of U.S. Embassy encouragement, Beeri-Sulitzeanu simply responded, “No.”
Did Saudi Funds Finance The Benghazi Attack?
An e-mail reportedly sent to Hillary Clinton by former Clinton White House staffer Sidney Blumenthal quotes an intelligence source providing information that “wealthy Sunni Islamists in Saudi Arabia” funded the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. special mission in Benghazi.
The leaked e-mails were published by Russia Today, which says it was forwarded the e-mails from Blumenthal’s AOL account by a hacker using the alias “Guccifer.”
“Guccifer” reportedly hacked Blumenthal’s e-mail in March 2013. Guccifer has since been identified as Marcel Lazar Lehel, a Romanian hacker serving a seven-year sentence for hacking into the accounts of Romanian government officials.
The alleged memos concern information Blumenthal says he gleaned about the Benghazi attack and the January 2013 hostage crisis at a gas complex in Amenas, Algeria.
One purported Blumenthal e-mail from Feb. 16, 2013, addressed to Clinton quoted sources “with direct access to the Libyan National Government, as well as the highest levels of European governments, and Western intelligence and security services.”
The e-mail said the information comes from “extremely sensitive sources and should be handled with care.”
The e-mail quotes an “individual with sensitive access” stating information provided by French security services indicated the funding for both the Benghazi and Algeria attacks “originated with wealthy Sunni Islamists in Saudi Arabia.”
Continued the purported e-mail: “During July and August 2012, these financiers provided funds to AQIM contacts in Southern Europe, who in turn passed the money onto AQIM operatives in Mauritania.”
AQIM refers to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
“These funds were eventually provided to Ansar Al Sharia and its allied militias in the Benghazi region” to support the attack, states the e-mail.
Ansar Al Sharia claimed responsibility for the Benghazi attack.
The purported Blumenthal e-mail added that the “Saudi” money was utilized to procure ammunition and supplies.