`Al Qaeda hand in Banghazi not established yet`

The US has said the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi was a planned `terrorist` attack but it remains unclear if Al-Qaeda had a hand in the incident, that killed its Ambassador and three others.

Washington: The US has said the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi was a planned `terrorist` attack but it remains unclear if Al-Qaeda had a hand in the incident, that killed its Ambassador and three others.

"As we determined the details of what took place there and how that attack took place that it became clear that there were terrorists who had planned that attack," US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said yesterday.

"That`s when I came to that conclusion. Again, as to who was involved, what specific groups were involved, I think the investigation on that is ongoing. Hopefully we`ll determine that," Panetta said, adding that it took a while for them to determine that it was a terrorist attack.

"On the question of was al-Qaeda involved here or not, I really think that is a matter for the investigation to determine. As we all know, there is a lot of different forms of terrorism in that part of the world. There`s a lot of terrorism that`s homegrown. I think it`s really important, before we come to any firm conclusions, to give the investigators the opportunity to determine exactly who was involved in the attack that took place," Panetta said.

PTI

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