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US commandos nab senior al-Qaida
leader linked to 1998 embassy
bombings
AP | Oct 6, 2013, 06.58AM IST
This image from the FBI website
shows Anas al-Libi who was believed
to be a computer specialist with al-
Qaida. (Via AP)
TRIPOLI, Libya: US forces on
Saturday captured an al-Qaida
leader in Libya linked to the 1998
American embassy bombings in east
Africa and wanted by the United
States for more than a decade, a US
official said.
The official identified the al-Qaida
leader as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-
Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-
Libi. His capture would represent a
significant blow to what remains of
the core al-Qaida organization once
led by Osama bin Laden.
Family members said gunmen in a
three-car convoy seized al-Libi
outside his home in the Libyan
capital, Tripoli. Al-Libi is believed to
have returned to Libya during the
2011 civil war that led to the ouster
and killing of dictator Muammar
Gaddafi.
His brother, Nabih, said the 49-year-
old was parking outside his house
early Saturday after dawn prayers,
when three vehicles encircled his
vehicle. The gunmen smashed his
car's window and seized his gun
before grabbing him and fleeing.
The brother said al-Libi's wife saw
the kidnapping from her window and
described the abductors as foreign-
looking armed "commandos".
The US official said there were no US
casualties in the operation. The
official was not authorized to speak
publicly and requested anonymity.
Al-Libi is on the FBI's most-wanted
list with a $5 million bounty on his
head. He was indicted by a federal
court in the Southern District of New
York, for his alleged role in the
bombings of the US embassies in
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and
Nairobi, Kenya, on August 7, 1998,
that killed more than 250 people.
Libyan officials did not return calls
seeking comment on al-Libi's
abduction and the US issued no
immediate statements. His brother
said he failed to contact authorities
over the matter.
Al-Libi was believed to be a
computer specialist with al-Qaida.
He studied electronic and nuclear
engineering, graduating from Tripoli
University, and was an anti-Gaddafi
activist.
He is believed to have spent time in
Sudan, where Osama bin Laden was
based in the early 1990s. After bin
Laden was forced to leave Sudan, al-
Libi turned up in Britain in 1995
where he was granted political
asylum under unclear circumstances
and lived in Manchester. He was
arrested by Scotland Yard in 1999,
but released because of lack of
evidence and later fled Britain. His
name was included on the FBI's
most wanted terrorists list that was
introduced shortly after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks.
There were a number of reports of
his arrest, which were later denied
by US officials. In 2007, Human
Rights Watch said it believed he was
among about two dozen people who
may have once been held in secret
CIA prisons. The group said it
believed he was held in Sudan, but
didn't elaborate, and said his
whereabouts were later unknown.
Al-Libi's family returned to Libya a
year before the revolt against
Gaddafi, under an initiative by
Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam who
sought to reconcile with militants
who renounce violence, a close
friend said, refusing to identify
himself because of security concerns.
The friend said al-Libi's son was
killed during the civil war as rebels
marched on the capital, ousting
Gaddafi. His son's name is scribbled
as graffiti on the walls of the street
where his family resides, in an
affluent neighborhood in Tripoli.
Since Gaddafi's fall, Libya has been
rocked by lawlessness, as militia
groups have challenged the central
government's power, and
assassinations and revenge attacks
spread.
Last year, militants attacked the US
Consulate in the eastern city of
Benghazi, killing the US ambassador
and three other Americans.
According to official documents, al-
Libi is not among those wanted for
that attack.
source. timesofindia.com
leader linked to 1998 embassy
bombings
AP | Oct 6, 2013, 06.58AM IST
This image from the FBI website
shows Anas al-Libi who was believed
to be a computer specialist with al-
Qaida. (Via AP)
TRIPOLI, Libya: US forces on
Saturday captured an al-Qaida
leader in Libya linked to the 1998
American embassy bombings in east
Africa and wanted by the United
States for more than a decade, a US
official said.
The official identified the al-Qaida
leader as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-
Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-
Libi. His capture would represent a
significant blow to what remains of
the core al-Qaida organization once
led by Osama bin Laden.
Family members said gunmen in a
three-car convoy seized al-Libi
outside his home in the Libyan
capital, Tripoli. Al-Libi is believed to
have returned to Libya during the
2011 civil war that led to the ouster
and killing of dictator Muammar
Gaddafi.
His brother, Nabih, said the 49-year-
old was parking outside his house
early Saturday after dawn prayers,
when three vehicles encircled his
vehicle. The gunmen smashed his
car's window and seized his gun
before grabbing him and fleeing.
The brother said al-Libi's wife saw
the kidnapping from her window and
described the abductors as foreign-
looking armed "commandos".
The US official said there were no US
casualties in the operation. The
official was not authorized to speak
publicly and requested anonymity.
Al-Libi is on the FBI's most-wanted
list with a $5 million bounty on his
head. He was indicted by a federal
court in the Southern District of New
York, for his alleged role in the
bombings of the US embassies in
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and
Nairobi, Kenya, on August 7, 1998,
that killed more than 250 people.
Libyan officials did not return calls
seeking comment on al-Libi's
abduction and the US issued no
immediate statements. His brother
said he failed to contact authorities
over the matter.
Al-Libi was believed to be a
computer specialist with al-Qaida.
He studied electronic and nuclear
engineering, graduating from Tripoli
University, and was an anti-Gaddafi
activist.
He is believed to have spent time in
Sudan, where Osama bin Laden was
based in the early 1990s. After bin
Laden was forced to leave Sudan, al-
Libi turned up in Britain in 1995
where he was granted political
asylum under unclear circumstances
and lived in Manchester. He was
arrested by Scotland Yard in 1999,
but released because of lack of
evidence and later fled Britain. His
name was included on the FBI's
most wanted terrorists list that was
introduced shortly after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks.
There were a number of reports of
his arrest, which were later denied
by US officials. In 2007, Human
Rights Watch said it believed he was
among about two dozen people who
may have once been held in secret
CIA prisons. The group said it
believed he was held in Sudan, but
didn't elaborate, and said his
whereabouts were later unknown.
Al-Libi's family returned to Libya a
year before the revolt against
Gaddafi, under an initiative by
Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam who
sought to reconcile with militants
who renounce violence, a close
friend said, refusing to identify
himself because of security concerns.
The friend said al-Libi's son was
killed during the civil war as rebels
marched on the capital, ousting
Gaddafi. His son's name is scribbled
as graffiti on the walls of the street
where his family resides, in an
affluent neighborhood in Tripoli.
Since Gaddafi's fall, Libya has been
rocked by lawlessness, as militia
groups have challenged the central
government's power, and
assassinations and revenge attacks
spread.
Last year, militants attacked the US
Consulate in the eastern city of
Benghazi, killing the US ambassador
and three other Americans.
According to official documents, al-
Libi is not among those wanted for
that attack.
source. timesofindia.com
