| Abu Faraj al-Libi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Mustafa Faraj Muhammad Muhammad Masud al-Jadid al-Uzaybi (1970-11-01)November 1, 1970 (age 55)[1][2] Tripoli, Libya |
| Arrested | May 2, 2005 Near Peshawar,Pakistan Pakistani ISI |
| Detained at | CIAblack sites,Guantanamo Bay detention camps |
| ISN | 10017 |
| Status | Still held in Guantanamo |
Abu Faraj al-Libi (/ˈɑːbuːˈfɑːrɑːdʒælˈliːbi/ ⓘAH-booFAH-rahj alLEE-bee; أبو الفرج الليبي) (also transliteratedal-Libbi) is an assumed name ornom de guerre of aLibyan alleged to be a senior member of theal-Qaedaterrorist organization. His real name isMustafa Faraj Muhammad Muhammad Masud al-Jadid al-Uzaybi (born 1 November 1970).[3][4] He was arrested byPakistan'sInter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on May 2, 2005, inMardan (30 mi (48 km) north ofPeshawar). Finding al-Libi was a joint effort of theCentral Intelligence Agency's (CIA)Special Activities Division and Pakistan's Special Forces.
Since September 2006, al-Libi has been held in American military custody in theGuantanamo Bay detention camp,[4] having previously been held at a secret location.[5]
According to the USOffice of the Director of National Intelligence, he served as the third in command of al-Qaeda, from the 2003 capture ofKhalid Sheikh Mohammed to his own capture in 2005.[6]
In approximately 2000, al-Libi was living in theKarte Parwan district ofKabul,Afghanistan.[7]
In August 2004, Pakistani officials stated that al-Libi had become "number three" in al-Qaeda as "director of operations", a role once filled byKhalid Sheikh Mohammed.[8][9]
Upon al-Libi's arrest on May 2, 2005, U.S. and Pakistani authorities continued to claim him as the third most important figure in al-Qaeda. According to theBBC andVoice of America (VOA) reports, he was ridingpillion on amotorbike when he and his driver were ambushed by Pakistani agents, some of whom were wearingburqas. A VOA reporter from Mardan said that while being apprehended, al-Libi tried to destroy a notebook, which U.S. agents took and have tried to decode.
U.S. agents had been trying to find al-Libi as a link to findingOsama bin Laden. After they intercepted a mobile phone call made by him, they targeted his location to a busy road a quarter of a mile away on the outskirts of Mardan, about 75 mi (121 km) northwest ofIslamabad, and tipped-off Pakistani authorities. Plainclothes Pakistani agents arrived in Mardan and waited for him to arrive.
Abu Faraj al-Libi was identified by Pakistani authorities as the main planner of the2006 transatlantic aircraft plot.[10] He is also a suspect in two assassination attempts againstPakistani President GeneralPervez Musharraf.[4] According toThe New York Times, "Mr. Libbi's suspected accomplice in those attacks was a well-known Pakistani militant namedAmjad Farooqi, who was also implicated in the murder of the 'Wall Street Journal' reporterDaniel Pearl in February 2002. Mr. Farooqi was killed last September in a shootout with security forces in southern Pakistan."[11]
In the early reporting of this capture, there was confusion between the names and identities of Abu Faraj al-Libi and another wanted al-Qaeda fugitive,Anas al-Liby.[12]Al-Libi is not a surname, but an adjective, meaningthe Libyan. Such adjectives of nationality are used in nicknames, and sometimes to resolve ambiguity; they often have several alternative Englishtransliterations.
Scholars at theBrookings Institution, led byBenjamin Wittes, listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations:[13]
On January 21, 2009, the day he was inaugurated,United States PresidentBarack Obama issued threeexecutive orders related to the detention of individuals inGuantanamo Bay detention camp.[14][15][16][17]That new review system was composed of officials from six departments, where the OARDEC reviews were conducted entirely by the Department of Defense. When it reported back, a year later, theGuantanamo Review Task Force classified some individuals as too dangerous to be transferred from Guantanamo, even though there was insufficient evidence to justify charging them. On April 9, 2013, that document was made public after aFreedom of Information Act request.[18]Abu Faraj al-Libi was one of the 71 individuals deemed unable to be charged due to insufficient evidence, but too dangerous to release.Obama said those deemed unable to be charged due to insufficient evidence, but too dangerous to release would start to receive reviews from aPeriodic Review Board.
The first review was not convened until November 20, 2013.[19] Al-Libi was denied approval for transfer on September 16, 2016.[20]
I have already discussed at length the profound injustice of holding Shawali Khan and Abdul Ghani, in articles here and here, and noted how their cases discredit America, as Khan, against whom no evidence of wrongdoing exists, nevertheless had his habeas corpus petition denied, and Ghani, a thoroughly insignificant scrap metal merchant, was put forward for a trial by military commission — a war crimes trial — under President Bush.
