Abu Laith al-Libi
Encyclopedia
Abu Laith al-Libi was a senior leader of the al-Qaeda
movement in Afghanistan
who appeared in several al-Qaeda videos. He was believed to have been active in the tribal regions of Waziristan
. He also served as an al Qaeda spokesman. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency
, he was an "expert in guerilla warfare."
says he was 41 at the time of his death, putting his birth date around 1967. In the 1980s he was one of the Afghan Arabs
who came to Afghanistan
to fight the Soviet Union
during the Soviet-Afghan War
. He returned to Libya in 1994 and took part in a failed attempt to oust Muammar al-Gaddafi
. In the wake of this attempt al-Libi escaped to Saudi Arabia
, where he was imprisoned in Riyadh
following the Khobar Towers bombing
. Sometime thereafter he was either released or managed to escape, and came to Afghanistan to collaborate with al-Qaeda
and the Taliban. In 1997, a dispute between the two oldest brothers of the Canadian Khadr family
, Abdullah
and Abdurahman
, was mediated by al-Libi, who earned their confidence and respect telling them about Dubai
and Ferrari
s, and they later referred to him as a "really cool" person. In 2002, he approached the father Ahmed Khadr about letting the 15-year old Omar
serve as a translator for some Arab "visitors" in the region. When a gun-battle resulted in the young translator being sent to Guantanamo Bay, al-Libi tried to placate the family with gifts and apologies, but Khadr remained furious and refused to associate with al-Libi, whom he blamed for not taking care of his son.
In May 2005 when Abu Faraj al-Libbi
was captured in Pakistan, his identity was confused in many reports with Abu Laith al-Libi.
al-Libi was seen in two online videos in 2007, the first of which called for the kidnapping of Westerners. The second claimed preparations were being made for war against Israel and the subsequent imposition of Islam in the world. In February of that year he is said to have been involved in the Bagram Air Base bombing
, which al-Qaeda claimed was an attempted assassination of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
. In November 2007 he reported the merger of Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
, a Libyan group waging jihad against al-Gaddafi, with al-Qaeda; this would be his last public appearance before his death.
drone attack
from an unmanned CIA Predator drone, either late Monday, January 28, or early Tuesday, January 29, 2008. CNN
attributed reports of his death to a "knowledgeable western official", and an "unnamed military source".
MSNBC
reported that some intelligence sources describe him as the number three leader of al Qaeda.
On January 31, 2008 it was reported by the SITE Intelligence Group
that he had been killed after a message appeared on Ekhlaas.org, an Islamist website.
Counter-terrorism officials are as yet unwilling to reveal the circumstances of the killing, though they have confirmed the death to news organizations.
Other members of al Qaeda's cadre of leaders have been reported to have been killed by the airstrike that killed al Libi.
The Italian news source Adnkronos
reported three other al Qaeda leaders were killed.
It called Abu Obeida Tawari al-Obeidi
and Abu Adel al-Kuwaiti Kuwait
is. It called Abdel Ghaffar al-Darnawi a Libya
n.
The Kuwaiti news source Arab Times
also reported Abu Adel al-Kuwaiti was killed in the airstrike, but it asserted he was a Saudi, in spite of his name.
It reported the death in the airstrike of a second Saudi, named Tawari Rakhis Al-Mutairi, who had also lived in Kuwait for a long period of time. Pakistani media reported that American al-Qaeda member Adam Gadahn may have also killed in the strike.
Michael McConnell
,
the USA's Director of National Intelligence, told members of the Senate
Intelligence Committee
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...
movement in 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...
who appeared in several al-Qaeda videos. He was believed to have been active in the tribal regions of Waziristan
Waziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...
. He also served as an al Qaeda spokesman. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
, he was an "expert in guerilla warfare."
Biography
The Defense Intelligence AgencyDefense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
says he was 41 at the time of his death, putting his birth date around 1967. In the 1980s he was one of the Afghan Arabs
Afghan Arabs
Afghan Arabs were Arab and other Muslim Islamist mujahideen who came to Afghanistan during and following the Soviet-Afghan War to help fellow Muslims fight Soviets and pro-Soviet Afghans....
who came to 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...
to fight the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during the Soviet-Afghan War
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. He returned to Libya in 1994 and took part in a failed attempt to oust Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
. In the wake of this attempt al-Libi escaped to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, where he was imprisoned in Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
following the Khobar Towers bombing
Khobar Towers bombing
The Khobar Towers bombing was a terrorist attack on part of a housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, located near the national oil company headquarters of Dhahran. In 1996, Khobar Towers was being used to house foreign military personnel.Al-Qaeda has incorrectly been described by...
. Sometime thereafter he was either released or managed to escape, and came to Afghanistan to collaborate with 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...
and the Taliban. In 1997, a dispute between the two oldest brothers of the Canadian Khadr family
Khadr family
The Khadr family is a Canadian family noted for their ties to Osama bin Laden and alleged connections to al Qaeda. The family maintains that they have not broken any Canadian laws, and they have never been charged with any crimes by Canadian authorities.The Khadr family comprises:*The father,...
, Abdullah
Abdullah Khadr
Abdullah Ahmed Khadr is the oldest son of Ahmed Khadr and brother of Omar Khadr who has been charged with war crimes before the Guantanamo military commission....
and Abdurahman
Abdurahman Khadr
Abdurahman Khadr is the third child of the Egyptian Canadian Khadr family, and was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba, after being detained in Afghanistan under suspicion of connections to Al-Qaeda...
, was mediated by al-Libi, who earned their confidence and respect telling them about Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
and Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
s, and they later referred to him as a "really cool" person. In 2002, he approached the father Ahmed Khadr about letting the 15-year old Omar
Omar Khadr
Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...
serve as a translator for some Arab "visitors" in the region. When a gun-battle resulted in the young translator being sent to Guantanamo Bay, al-Libi tried to placate the family with gifts and apologies, but Khadr remained furious and refused to associate with al-Libi, whom he blamed for not taking care of his son.
In May 2005 when Abu Faraj al-Libbi
Abu Faraj al-Libbi
Abu Faraj al-Libi is an assumed name or nom de guerre of a Libyan 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 on May 2, 2005, in Mardan...
was captured in Pakistan, his identity was confused in many reports with Abu Laith al-Libi.
al-Libi was seen in two online videos in 2007, the first of which called for the kidnapping of Westerners. The second claimed preparations were being made for war against Israel and the subsequent imposition of Islam in the world. In February of that year he is said to have been involved in the Bagram Air Base bombing
2007 Bagram Air Base bombing
The 2007 Bagram Airfield bombing was a suicide attack that killed up to 23 people and injured 20 more at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, while Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States, was visiting...
, which al-Qaeda claimed was an attempted assassination of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
. In November 2007 he reported the merger of Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
Libyan Islamic Movement formerly known as The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group also known as Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyyah al-Muqatilah bi-Libya is a group active in Libya which played a key role in deposing Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, allying itself with the National Transitional Council.However...
, a Libyan group waging jihad against al-Gaddafi, with al-Qaeda; this would be his last public appearance before his death.
Death
On January 31, 2008, Abu Laith al-Libi was reported to have been killed by a targeted killingTargeted killing
Targeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
drone attack
Drone attacks on Pakistan by the United States of America
The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, has made a series of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones . These attacks are part of the US' War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants...
from an unmanned CIA Predator drone, either late Monday, January 28, or early Tuesday, January 29, 2008. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
attributed reports of his death to a "knowledgeable western official", and an "unnamed military source".
MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
reported that some intelligence sources describe him as the number three leader of al Qaeda.
On January 31, 2008 it was reported by the SITE Intelligence Group
SITE Institute
The Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group is an organization that tracks the online activity of terrorist organizations. The SITE Institute was founded in 2002 by Rita Katz and Josh Devon, who had left the Investigative Project...
that he had been killed after a message appeared on Ekhlaas.org, an Islamist website.
Counter-terrorism officials are as yet unwilling to reveal the circumstances of the killing, though they have confirmed the death to news organizations.
Other members of al Qaeda's cadre of leaders have been reported to have been killed by the airstrike that killed al Libi.
The Italian news source Adnkronos
Adnkronos
-History:It was established in 1963 by a merger of two agencies, Kronos and Agenzia Di Notizie .The agency is owned by Giuseppe Marra Communications....
reported three other al Qaeda leaders were killed.
It called Abu Obeida Tawari al-Obeidi
Abu Obeida Tawari al-Obeidi
Abu Obeida Tawari al-Obeidi has been described as a Kuwaiti member of al Qaeda's senior leadership.Abu Obeida Tawari al-Obeidi was reported to have been killed in the airstrike that killedAbu Layth al-Libi, said to be al Qaeda's number three....
and Abu Adel al-Kuwaiti Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
is. It called Abdel Ghaffar al-Darnawi a Libya
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.
The Kuwaiti news source Arab Times
Arab Times
Arab Times is an English-language newspaper published from Kuwait. Established in February 1977 by Dar Al-Seyassah newspaper which started the weekly Arab Times newspaper and soon transferred it into a daily newspaper with a remarkable role in Kuwait and the Gulf Area.The editor-in-chief of the...
also reported Abu Adel al-Kuwaiti was killed in the airstrike, but it asserted he was a Saudi, in spite of his name.
It reported the death in the airstrike of a second Saudi, named Tawari Rakhis Al-Mutairi, who had also lived in Kuwait for a long period of time. Pakistani media reported that American al-Qaeda member Adam Gadahn may have also killed in the strike.
Michael McConnell
Michael McConnell
Mike or Michael McConnell is the name of:*Michael W. McConnell , American appellate judge and constitutional law scholar*John Michael McConnell , American naval officer and Director of National Intelligence of the United States...
,
the USA's Director of National Intelligence, told members of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Intelligence Committee
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