I do not believe that this facility was an actual US "consulate". If it was, who was the consulate-general, the State Department officer in charge?
I think this was actually a CIA facility, not a real consulate. Comments?
The possibility that it was primarily a CIA operation has crossed my mind also although it must have been operating with a front (quasi-consulate).
The CIA facility was near it, but this was a consular office that didn’t have a consul named to it (because of all the turmoil in Libya) and was visited by the Ambassador when it was necessary to transact business there, attend an event, etc. I’ve never been clear on whether he made it to the CIA facility and was killed there, or whether he died in some supposed safe room at the consulate.
Consulate or “mission,” there’s the rub. It appears the “consulate” might not have been an officially listed diplo facility.
So the “sovereign territory” rules (FWIW) might not have been applicable. Technically.