The US has announced a reward of $10 million for information about suspects in the last year’s attack at its Benghazi consulate in Libya.

Since January 2013, the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) programme has had a reward offer of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any individual involved in the September 11-12, 2012 Benghazi attacks, the State Department said in a statement yesterday.

“Due to security issues and sensitivities surrounding the investigation, the event-specific reward offer has not been publicly advertised on the RFJ website. RFJ tools can be utilised in a variety of ways, without publicising them on the website,” the statement said.

The confirmation of an award offer was included yesterday in the Department’s response to an October 30, 2013 letter to the Secretary of State, John Kerry, from House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and eighty-two additional members of Congress, it said.

In their letter, McCaul and 83 other lawmakers wrote to Kerry last month demanding to know why the State Department had “failed” to use the Rewards for Justice programme to help catch those responsible for the deaths of its Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans during the attack.