US says $10M rewards for information on Benghazi suspects have been offered
US says $10M rewards for information on Benghazi suspects have been offered
WASHINGTON — The State Department said Friday that it has been quietly offering rewards since January of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any person involved in last year’s attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya. The announcement ends weeks of Obama administration silence on questions about whether it was using all available means to catch the attackers.
In a letter sent to lawmakers on Friday, the department said the rewards were not publicized on its “Rewards for Justice” website as is normally done because of security issues around the ongoing investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the mission in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
“Due to security issues and sensitivities surrounding the investigation, the event-specific reward offer has not been publicly advertised on the RFJ website,” the department said in a statement. “RFJ tools can be utilized in a variety of ways, without publicizing them on the website.”
A State Department official familiar with the letter sent to Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, by Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield acknowledged that it’s unusual not to publicize offers of rewards, but said investigators have other ways of making sure the information is known “as needed.”
US officials: Nuke deal being discussed would offer Iran only minor relief from sanctions
WASHINGTON — Iran would get only minor relief from economic sanctions under an international proposal to prevent it from producing nuclear weapons, two Obama administration officials said Friday, seeking to calm concerns in Israel and on Capitol Hill that the U.S. and its allies are giving away too much to Tehran.
While playing down the sanctions relief being discussed, the administration was hoping it would be enough to finalize an initial agreement with Iran next week in Geneva.
Last week’s negotiations failed to reach an agreement between Iran and six world powers — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — that would resolve a decade-long standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. The countries worry that Tehran is trying to assemble an atomic weapons arsenal. Iran insists it has a right to pursue a nuclear program solely for peaceful energy production and medical research.
Obama administration officials are optimistic that an initial deal with Iran can be reached during the next round of talks, although tough issues remain unresolved.
Toronto City Council strips Mayor Rob Ford of some of his powers amid drug scandal
TORONTO — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford vowed Friday to take City Council to court after it voted overwhelmingly to strip him of some of his powers over his admitted drug use, public drinking and increasingly erratic behavior.
Then, in a flash of remorse, the 44-year-old Ford declared: “If I would have had a mayor conducting themselves the way I have, I would have done exactly the same thing.”
The motion, approved in a 39-3 vote, suspends Ford’s authority to appoint and dismiss the deputy mayor and his executive committee, which runs the budget process. The council also voted to give the deputy mayor authority to handle any civic emergency. The effort is to continue Monday when the council moves to strip the mayor of most of his remaining powers.
Newly released court documents show the mayor became the subject of a police investigation after news reports surfaced in May that he had been caught on video smoking crack cocaine. In interviews with police, former staffers accused the mayor of frequently drinking, driving while intoxicated and making sexual advances toward a female staffer.
By wire sources