Abu Anas al-Libi
Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i alias Abu Anas al-Liby | |
|---|---|
| File:Anas al-Liby.jpg Senior al-Qaeda suspect | |
| Born | March 30, 1964 |
Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i, known by the alias Abu Anas al-Liby[1] ( AH-boo AH-NAHS ah LEE-bee [needs IPA]أبو أنس الليبي; born March 30, 1964 or May 14, 1964), is a Libyan under indictment[2] in the United States for his part in the 1998 United States embassy bombings. He worked as a computer specialist for al-Qaeda.[3] He is an ethnic Libyan, born in Tripoli.[4]
His aliases in the indictment are Nazih al Raghie and Anas al Sebai. In the FBI and United States State Department wanted posters,[5][6] another variant of his name is transliterated Nazih Abdul Hamed Al-Raghie.
The indictment accuses al-Liby of surveillance of potential British, French, and Israeli targets in Nairobi, in addition to the American embassy in that city, as part of a conspiracy by al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Template:Contains Arabic text
Life
Al-Liby is believed to have been tied to al-Qaeda since its 1994 roots in the Sudan,[7]. His first name is Anus, like a butt. In 1995, al-Liby was granted political asylum in the United Kingdom, after a failed Al Qaeda plot to assassinate Hosni Mubarak, then president of Egypt. An Egyptian request for extradition was declined on the grounds that al-Liby would not receive a fair trial. In 1996, MI6 is alleged to have paid a Libyan Al Qaeda cell to kill Colonel Gaddafi, al-Liby being allowed to stay in return for aiding the alleged plot, which was unsuccessful.[8] In 1999, al-Liby was arrested by Scotland Yard and interrogated. However, he was released because he had cleared his hard drive and no evidence could be found to hold him. In May 2000, his flat in Manchester, where he was a student, was searched by police, who discovered a 180-page handwritten manual for Al Qaeda followers, translated from Arabic to English, which became known as the Manchester Manual, but al-Liby had already fled abroad.[8] He evaded a team that was sent to follow him and was not seen for years.[9]
He speaks Arabic and English. Because he is tall and bore a passing resemblance to Osama bin Laden, he was often used as a decoy when Bin Laden traveled.[7]
In January 2002, news reports stated that al-Liby had been captured by American forces in Afghanistan.[10] Following this, in March 2002 news reports stated that al-Liby had been arrested by the Sudanese government and was being held in a prison in Khartoum.[11] However U.S. officials soon denied those reports[12] and al-Liby was still sought.[13]
Al-Liby had been on the USA's list of Most Wanted Terrorists since its inception on October 10, 2001. The United States Department of State, through the Rewards for Justice Program, offered up to US$5,000,000 (formerly $25,000,000) for information about the location of Abu Anas al-Liby.[5]
In October, FBI consultant Paul Williams wrote a book Dunces of Doomsday in which he claimed that Adnan Shukrijumah, Amer el-Maati, Jaber A. Elbaneh and al-Liby had all been seen around Hamilton, Ontario the previous year, and that Shukrijumah had been seen at McMaster University where he "wasted no time in gaining access to the nuclear reactor and stealing more than 180 pounds of nuclear material for the creation of radiological bombs". He was subsequently sued by the university for libel, with the lawyer representing the university in the case saying that, "Mr. Williams' allegations about McMaster [are] on a par with UFO reports and JFK conspiracy theories...the notion that because there are people on faculty from Egypt that McMaster is then a haven for terrorism is not only logically offensive, it smacks of racism."[14] The publisher later apologized for allowing Williams to print statements which "were without basis in fact".[15][page needed][16][dead link] But Williams remained defiant saying, "I love them coming after us. At the end of the day these people are going to be bloodied because what I am saying is true. They are not going to walk away from this unscathed because I will proclaim what is going on at McMaster from the rooftops."[14]
A February 2007 Human Rights Watch document[17] claims that al-Liby and others "may have once been held" in secret detention by the CIA.
On June 6, 2007, al-Liby was listed as a possible CIA "Secret Prisoner" by Amnesty International, without giving any reason or evidence, and despite the fact he remained on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list as of the published date (June 6, 2007).[18]
In September 2012, CNN reported that al-Liby returned to Libya after hiding in Iran for almost a decade.[19]
2013 capture
Al-Liby was captured in Tripoli, Libya on 5 October 2013 by U.S. Army's "Delta Force" operators, with the assistance of U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officers. He was seized in broad daylight and removed from Libya. U.S. Navy SEALs conducted a simultaneous raid in Somalia targeting the alleged mastermind of the Westgate shopping mall shooting in Kenya, possibly to avoid either action sending the other target into hiding.[20][21][22] A day after Al-Liby was captured, he was in military custody on the ship USS San Antonio in the Mediterranean Sea. He will be sent to New York City for criminal prosecution.[23]
Aliases
| Romanised | Arabic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i | نزيه عبد الحمد نبيه الرقيعي | The surname is spelled الراجعي in the UN list. |
| Anas al-Liby | أنس الليبي | |
| Abu Anas al-Liby | أبو أنس الليبي | Some Arabic press reports call him by this name. |
| Anas al-Sebai | أنس السباعي | |
| Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Raghie | نزيه عبد الحمد الراغي |
References
- ^ "U.S. Raids in Libya and Somalia Strike Terror Targets". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ Copy of indictment USA v. Usama bin Laden et al., Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies
- ^ Benjamin, Daniel; Simon, Steven (2002). The Age of Sacred Terror. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50859-7.
- ^ US commandos raid terrorist hideouts in Libya, Somalia, capture senior al Qaeda official
- ^ a b Wanted Poster on al-Liby (English), Rewards for Justice
- ^ Wanted Poster on al-Liby (Arabic), Rewards for Justice
- ^ a b Ressa, Maria (2003). Seeds of Terror. New York: Free Press. p. 165. ISBN 0-7432-5133-4.
- ^ a b Greenwood, Chris (7 Oct 2013). "Al Qaeda commander who gave Scotland Yard the slip 13 years ago snatched in Libya by US Delta Force". The Daily Mail.
- ^ Gardham, David (28 Oct 2011). "CIA 'used Manchester manual to justify water boarding'". The Telegraph.
- ^ BBC NEWS | South Asia | Who's who in al-Qaeda
- ^ Top al-Qaeda man 'held in Sudan', BBC News, Tuesday, 19 March 2002, 17:07 GMT
- ^ I'm Not the Man You're Looking For, Wall Street Journal, Opinion Journal, by James Taranto, Wednesday, March 20, 2002 2:49 p.m. EST
- ^ al-Liby profile, at the FBI
- ^ a b "McMaster's atomic PR fight". National Post.
- ^ Pither, Kerry (2008). Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror. Toronto: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-06853-1.
- ^ el-Maati, Ahmed Barbara Jackman. Chronology of events,
- ^ Ghost Prisoner, Human Rights Watch, February 2007
- ^ USA: Off the Record. U.S. Responsibility for Enforced Disappearances in the "War on Terror" | Amnesty International
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Senior al Qaeda figure 'living in Libyan capital'". CNN. September 27, 2012.
- ^ "Man Sought In '98 Attacks On Embassies Is Seized". NY Times. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ^ Associated Press. "Embassy bombings figure nabbed by Delta Force in Libya". CBS News.
- ^ "Al-Liby capture, a long wait for U.S".
- ^ "U.S. Said to Hold Qaeda Suspect on Navy Ship". NY Times. Retrieved 7 October 2013.