On June 17, 2014, the U.S. Ambassador, Samantha Power, wrote a letter to the U.N. Security Council stating that the U.S. raid that seized the suspected leader of the 2012 attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya is legal under international law. According to a news article, Abu Khatttalah was captured in Libya “without the knowledge or permission of the Libyan government.” The letter stated that, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, the measures were “necessary to prevent such armed attacks, and were taken in accordance with the United States’ inherent right of self-defense.”