Abu Faraj al-Libbi
Encyclopedia
Abu Faraj al-Libi (also transliterated al-Libbi ) is an assumed name or nom de guerre of a Libya
n alleged to be a senior member of the al-Qaeda
terrorist
organization. His real name is thought to be Mustafa al-'Uzayti. He was arrested by Pakistan
's Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) on May 2, 2005, in Mardan
(30 mi (48.3 km) north of Peshawar
). Finding al-Libi was a joint effort of the Central Intelligence Agency
's (CIA) Special Activities Division
and Pakistan's Special Forces. He is now in American military custody in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, having previously been held at some secret location.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence he served as the third in command of al-Qaeda, from the 2003 capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to his own capture in 2005.
In approximately 2000, he was living in the Karte Parwan
district of Kabul
, Afghanistan
.
In August 2004 Pakistani officials stated that al-Libbi had become "number three" in al-Qaeda as "director of operations", a role once filled by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Upon al-Libbi's arrest U.S. and Pakistani authorities continued to claim him as the third most important figure in al-Qaeda.
According to the BBC
and Voice of America
(VOA) reports, he was riding pillion
on a motorbike
when he and his driver were ambushed by Pakistani agents, some of whom were wearing burqa
s. A VOA reporter from Mardan said that while being apprehended, al-Libbi tried to destroy a notebook, which U.S. officials are now trying to decode. The events leading up to the ambush began with US agents intercepting a mobile phone call made by al-Libbi. They zeroed in his location to a busy road a quarter of a mile away on the outskirts of Mardan, about 75 mi (120.7 km) northwest of Islamabad
, and tipped-off Pakistani authorities. Plainclothes Pakistani agents arrived in Mardan and waited for him to arrive.
Abu Faraj al-Libbi was named by Pakistani authorities as the main planner of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
. He is also a suspect in two assassination attempts against Pakistani President
General Pervez Musharraf
. According to the New York Times, "Mr. Libbi's suspected accomplice in those attacks was a well-known Pakistani militant named Amjad Farooqi
, who was also implicated in the murder of the Wall Street Journal
reporter Daniel Pearl
in February 2002. Mr. Farooqi was killed last September in a shootout with security forces in southern Pakistan.". The importance of al-Libi in the ranks of al-Qaeda and Taliban can also be judged from the fact that as soon his story of arrest was aired on VOA, the correspondent received death-threats from the local Taliban network in Mardan which was so far running underground.
In the early reporting of this capture, there was some confusion between Abu Faraj al-Libbi and another wanted al-Qaeda fugitive Anas al-Liby
. Al-Libi is not a surname, but an adjective, meaning the Libyan. Such adjectives of nationality are used in nicknames, and sometimes to resolve ambiguity; they often admit several alternative English transliteration
s.
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n alleged to be a senior member of the al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
organization. His real name is thought to be Mustafa al-'Uzayti. He was arrested by Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
(ISI) on May 2, 2005, in Mardan
Mardan
Mardan , known as The city of hospitality, is a city and headquarters of Mardan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It is the de facto headquarters of the Yousafzai tribe and the second most populous city in the province, located at 34°12'0N 72°1'60E and an altitude of in the south...
(30 mi (48.3 km) north of Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
). Finding al-Libi was a joint effort of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's (CIA) Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
and Pakistan's Special Forces. He is now in American military custody in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, having previously been held at some secret location.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence he served as the third in command of al-Qaeda, from the 2003 capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to his own capture in 2005.
In approximately 2000, he was living in the Karte Parwan
Karte Parwan
Kārte Parwān is a neighbourhood in Kabul, Afghanistan, and home to the Sikh Gurdwara Karte Parwan and Sheerno Junior High. The area is the centre of the Afghan Hindu and Afghan Sikh communities....
district of Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
In August 2004 Pakistani officials stated that al-Libbi had become "number three" in al-Qaeda as "director of operations", a role once filled by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Upon al-Libbi's arrest U.S. and Pakistani authorities continued to claim him as the third most important figure in al-Qaeda.
According to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
(VOA) reports, he was riding pillion
Pillion
A pillion is a mostly British English term for a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a horse, motorcycle, bicycle or moped...
on a motorbike
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
when he and his driver were ambushed by Pakistani agents, some of whom were wearing burqa
Burqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
s. A VOA reporter from Mardan said that while being apprehended, al-Libbi tried to destroy a notebook, which U.S. officials are now trying to decode. The events leading up to the ambush began with US agents intercepting a mobile phone call made by al-Libbi. They zeroed in his location to a busy road a quarter of a mile away on the outskirts of Mardan, about 75 mi (120.7 km) northwest of Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, and tipped-off Pakistani authorities. Plainclothes Pakistani agents arrived in Mardan and waited for him to arrive.
Abu Faraj al-Libbi was named by Pakistani authorities as the main planner of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives carried on board at least 10 airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada...
. He is also a suspect in two assassination attempts against Pakistani President
President of Pakistan
The President of Pakistan is the head of state, as well as figurehead, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Recently passed an XVIII Amendment , Pakistan has a parliamentary democratic system of government. According to the Constitution, the President is chosen by the Electoral College to serve a...
General Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
. According to the New York Times, "Mr. Libbi's suspected accomplice in those attacks was a well-known Pakistani militant named Amjad Farooqi
Amjad Farooqi
Amjad Farooqi , known by the alias Amjad Hussain , was an Islamic militant.He was born in Punjab, Pakistan, and participated in the fighting against India in Kashmir....
, who was also implicated in the murder of the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
reporter Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl was an American journalist who was kidnapped and killed by Al-Qaeda.At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between...
in February 2002. Mr. Farooqi was killed last September in a shootout with security forces in southern Pakistan.". The importance of al-Libi in the ranks of al-Qaeda and Taliban can also be judged from the fact that as soon his story of arrest was aired on VOA, the correspondent received death-threats from the local Taliban network in Mardan which was so far running underground.
In the early reporting of this capture, there was some confusion between Abu Faraj al-Libbi and another wanted al-Qaeda fugitive Anas al-Liby
Anas al-Liby
Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai'i alias Anas al-Liby , a Libyan, is under indictment in the United States for his part in the 1998 United States embassy bombings. He worked as a computer specialist for al-Qaeda.His aliases in the indictment are Nazih al Raghie and Anas al Sebai...
. Al-Libi is not a surname, but an adjective, meaning the Libyan. Such adjectives of nationality are used in nicknames, and sometimes to resolve ambiguity; they often admit several alternative English transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
s.
External links
- UN Secret Detention Report (Part One): The CIA’s “High-Value Detainee” Program and Secret Prisons Andy Worthington
- Osama bin Laden’s Death, and the Unjustifiable Defense of Torture and Guantánamo Andy Worthington
- Who's who in al-Qaeda, BBC newsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, August 19, 2005 - Press handout photo of Abu Faraj al-Libbi shortly after his capture, from the Pakistan Interior Ministry; photo at MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
