A British private security firm is facing questions over its role in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi after it emerged that it was responsible for hiring local guards to protect the diplomatic site.
A burnt car parked outside the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Photo: REUTERS
By Raf Sanchez, Washington
5:16PM BST 30 Sep 2012
Blue Mountain, a Wales-based firm staffed by former special forces operatives, was hired by the US government to provide security at the consulate before it was overrun in an assault that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.
The company was paid only $387,413 (£239,683) by the US State Department for the year-long contract, less than the cost of deploying a single American soldier.
In return, Blue Mountain assembled a force of local guards who were unable to protect Ambassador Chris Stevens or repel the coordinated attack on September 11.
The five-man Libyan security team was unarmed and tasked with doing basic security checks rather than fighting off armed attackers. They were managed by a British employee of Blue Mountain, who left Benghazi shortly after the attack.
At least one of the guards was wounded during the assault, telling the Daily Telegraph in an earlier interview that the militants had debated killing him as he lay on the ground but decided to spare his life.
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The firm's role has come under scrutiny as the State Department came under increasing pressure to explain why the site was so lightly-guarded despite the presence of militants in Benghazi and an earlier bomb attack on the compound.
Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, was also facing calls to resign from Republicans who claimed she had given a misleading initial account of the attack.
Ms Rice, who is among the contenders to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, first said that the consulate had been ransacked during a demonstration against an anti-Islamic film made in California.
The Obama administration later changed its account of the attack, saying that new intelligence indicated it had been organised by militants.
A Blue Mountain representative hung up when the Daily Telegraph contacted their headquarters. The State Department declined to comment.
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