Anas al-Liby
| Anas al-Liby link (Deep state functionary) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai 1964 Tripoli, Libya |
| Died | 2 January 2015 |
Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai aka Anas al-Liby was a Libyan al-Qaeda member and computer specialist who was involved in two failed assassination attempts:
- In 1995 against Hosni Mubarak, then president of Egypt; and,
- In 1996 against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (funded by MI6)[1]
Anas al-Liby was a key suspect in the 1998 United States embassy bombings in East Africa.
Al-Liby was captured by US forces in Tripoli, Libya, in October 2013, and was transferred to the US to face charges.[2] He died in a New York hospital on 2 January 2015 from liver disease and cancer, just before his trial was scheduled to begin on 12 January 2015.
The indictment accused 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.
Involvement with al-Qaeda
Al-Liby was believed to have been tied to al-Qaeda since its 1994 roots in Sudan. 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 allegedly paid a Libyan Al-Qaeda cell £100,000 to kill Colonel Gaddafi. Al-Liby would have been allowed to stay in return for aiding the alleged plot, which was unsuccessful.[3]
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. He evaded a team that was sent to follow him and fled to Afghanistan. His flat in Manchester, where he was a student, was searched by police, who discovered a 180-page handwritten manual, translated from Arabic to English, which became known as the Manchester Manual.[4]
Al-Liby spoke Arabic and English. He had a scar on the left side of his face. Because he was tall and bore a passing resemblance to Osama bin Laden, he was said to have been used as a decoy when bin Laden travelled.
Conflicting reports of whereabouts
In January 2002, news reports stated that al-Liby had been captured by American forces in Afghanistan. In March 2002, it was reported that he had been arrested by the Sudanese government and was being held in a prison in Khartoum. US officials soon denied those reports and al-Liby was still sought.
Al-Liby had been on the USA's list of "Most Wanted Terrorists" since its inception on 10 October 2001. The US State Department, 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.
In February 2007, a Human Rights Watch document claimed that al-Liby and others "may have once been held" in secret detention by the CIA.
On 7 June 2007, al-Liby, who remained on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list, was listed as a possible CIA "secret prisoner" by Amnesty International, without providing details or evidence.
In September 2012, CNN reported that al-Liby returned to Libya after being imprisoned in Iran for seven years.
Captured by the United States
Al-Liby was captured in Tripoli, Libya, on 5 October 2013 by US Army Delta Force operators, with the assistance of FBI agents and CIA officers. He was seized in a pre-dawn raid and removed from Libya. The US Navy's DEVGRU conducted a simultaneous raid in Somalia targeting the alleged mastermind of the Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya, possibly to avoid either action sending the other target into hiding. A day after Al-Liby was captured, he was in military custody on the ship USS San Antonio in the Mediterranean Sea. On 10 February 2014, a 30 seconds CCTV video showing US commandos capturing al-Liby was published by The Washington Post. According to strategist and counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen, the collapse of Ali Zeidan's government and the ensuing "fragmentation of Libya resulted, in part, from the raid and al-Liby's capture".
Court appearance
On 15 October 2013, al-Liby appeared in a Manhattan federal court and pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges, including helping to plan the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. He was held without bail due to concerns that he was a flight risk and a danger to the community. His trial, along with his co-defendant Khalid al-Fawwaz, a.k.a. "Khaled Abdul Rahman Hamad al Fawwaz," a.k.a. "Abu Omar," a.k.a. "Hamad," was scheduled to begin on 3 November 2014, before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
He was scheduled to stand trial in New York on 12 January 2015.
Death
Abu Anas al-Liby died on 2 January 2015 at a hospital in New York, aged 50, while in the United States custody. He reportedly had liver disease as a result of hepatitis C, and liver cancer. Upon his death his wife said "I accuse the American government of kidnapping, mistreating, and killing an innocent man. He did nothing."[5]
Personal life
Al-Liby was married and the father of four boys. He was believed to have been connected to Ramadan Abedi, the father of Salman Abedi, the perpetrator of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
References
- ↑ Document:MI6 'halted bid to arrest bin Laden'
- ↑ "Son of Abu Anas al-Liby describes capture of al-Qaida suspect in Libya"
- ↑ "1996: British Intelligence and Al-Qaeda Allegedly Cooperate in Plot to Assassinate Libyan Leader"
- ↑ "CIA 'used Manchester manual to justify water boarding'"
- ↑ "Profile: Anas al-Liby"
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