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- Dubai 04:27 05:45 12:20 15:47 18:49 20:07
Military court judge Colonel Faraj Shahat (C) sits as the court releases a statement about the assassination of Colonel Abdel Fattah Younes, who was Muammar Gaddafi's interior minister, in Benghazi December 19, 2012. Gunmen killed Younes in Benghazi in July 2011. (REUTERS)
The scandal over the Benghazi attack grew Wednesday as a top State Department official resigned and three others were suspended when a probe uncovered major security failures and mismanagement.
The news came amid a clamor of calls for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify to US lawmakers about the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after ill-health forced her to pull out of this week's hearings.
Assistant Secretary Eric Boswell, head of the bureau of diplomatic security, had resigned after the release of the scathing report into the September 11 assault in which four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, died.
The Accountability Review Board (ARB) had fingered four individuals for their "performance," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
Clinton "has accepted Eric Boswell's decision to resign as assistant secretary for diplomatic security, effective immediately," she said.
"The other three individuals have been relieved of their current duties. All four individuals have been placed on administrative leave pending further action."
She would not identify the three other State Department staff citing "personnel policies." But US television networks had earlier named one as Charlene Lamb, deputy assistant secretary for international programs.
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