A US federal court charged Katallah on Saturday with providing material support to terrorists resulting in death, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Katallah appeared in court for just 10 minutes, pleading not guilty to the charges. He was represented by a public attorney and communicated through a translator. The US Justice Department said it would soon file additional charges against Katallah.

The alleged leader of the Islamist militant group Ansar al-Shariah was captured by US special forces on the outskirts of Benghazi in eastern Libya on June 15. He was held on board a US navy warship before being transferred to Washington D.C. by helicopter on Saturday.

Political controversy

Islamist militants launched an assault against the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. The US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed in the attack as well as another diplomat and two State Department Security personnel. Stevens was the first US ambassador to be killed in the line of duty in nearly 25 years.

Initially, the Obama administration claimed that the attack began as a spontaneous protest against the anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims. Later, the White House said the attack was a premeditated assault by Islamist militants.

The Republican opposition has accused the administration of whitewashing the role played by Islamist militants for political reasons.

slk/jlw (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)