Al-Qaeda link in US consulate attack in Libya: official

PARIS (AP) - Some of the people who attacked the United States (US) consulate in Benghazi, Libya, had links to Al-Qaeda's North Africa arm, a top US military official said on Wednesday.

But it remained unclear if the terror network led or organised the deadly assault whose victims included the US ambassador.

"Clearly some of these individuals have some linkages to AQIM," or Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, General Carter Ham, head of the US military's Africa Command, told reporters in Paris.

"That's not to say that this was an AQIM-planned or organised or led activity," he said without elaborating.