His aliases in the indictment are Nazih al Raghie and Anas al Sebai. In the FBI and United States State Department wanted posters,[1][6] another variant of his name is transliterated Nazih Abdul Hamed Al-Raghie.
Al-Libi was believed to have been tied to al-Qaeda since its 1994 roots in Sudan.[7] In 1995, al-Libi 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-Libi would not receive a fair trial. In 1996, MI6 allegedly paid a Libyan Al-Qaeda cell to kill Colonel Gaddafi. Al-Libi would have been allowed to stay in return for aiding the alleged plot, which was unsuccessful.
In 1999, al-Libi 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.[8]
Al-Libi spoke Arabic and English. He had a scar on the left side of his face.[1] Because he was 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-Libi had been captured by American forces in Afghanistan.[9] In March 2002, it was reported that he had been arrested by the Sudanese government and was being held in a prison in Khartoum.[10] U.S. officials soon denied those reports[11] and al-Libi was still sought.[1]
On 15 October 2013, al-Libi appeared in a Manhattanfederal court and pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges, including helping to plan the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.[24] He was held without bail due to concerns that he was a flight risk and a danger to the community.[25] 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.[26]
He was scheduled to stand trial in New York on 12 January 2015.[27][28]
Abu Anas al Libi died on 2 January 2015 at a hospital in New York, aged 50, while in the United States custody.[29] He reportedly had liver disease as a result of hepatitis C, and liver cancer.[27][30] Upon his death his wife said "I accuse the American government of kidnapping, mistreating, and killing an innocent man. He did nothing."[31]
al-Ruqai'i was a married father of four boys.[32][33] He was believed to have been connected to Ramadan Abedi, the father of Salman Abedi, the perpetrator of the Manchester Arena bombing.[34]
^"International Terrorism Defendant Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court". Washington D.C.: United States Department of Justice. 19 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015. Two co-defendants, Khalid al Fawwaz, a.k.a. "Khaled Abdul Rahman Hamad al Fawwaz," a.k.a. "Abu Omar," a.k.a. "Hamad," and Anas al Liby, a.k.a. "Nazih al Raghie," a.k.a. "Anas al Sebai," are scheduled to commence trial on Nov. 3, 2014, before Judge Kaplan. The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
^ abBenjamin Weiser and Michael S. Schmidt (3 January 2015). "Qaeda Suspect Facing Trial in New York Over Africa Embassy Bombings Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2015. The man, Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, 50, who had liver cancer, was taken to a hospital on Wednesday from the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he was being held pending a trial that was to begin in Manhattan a week from Monday.
Andrew Lynch (7 October 2013). "After interrogation on warship, al Libi's next stop could be U.S. court". Fox4KC. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2014. But Forest questioned how much valuable intelligence al Libi would be able to provide his captors. A former jihadist associate told CNN it was unlikely al Libi was still playing an active role with the terrorist network, and his wife said he had been living a normal life and was seeking a job with the Libyan oil ministry.